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Autocar Professional - Latest ArticlesenAutocar ProfessionalKinetic Green to provide e-rickshaws to MahaMetro for last-mile connectivity<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa11c4d9-e1f8-48b7-87b3-2edc22649c3d.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, a Kinetic Group company, which manufacturers electric three wheelers, has signed an MoU with the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MahaMetro) to provide last-mile connectivity with e-rickshaws to commuters.</strong></p>
<p>As per the MoU Kinetic Green will provide its electric three-wheeler the &#39;Kinetic Safar&#39;, which it says is ideally suited for last-mile connectivity and urban commuting.</p>
<p>The company had launched the <a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-enters-electric-wheeler-market-bags-rs-400-crore-contract-govt-10214"><span style="color:#0000FF;">Kinetic Safar in 2016, which it says is India&rsquo;s first ARAI approved electric three-wheeler</span></a><span style="color:#0000FF;">.</span> These e-rickshaw can be booked from mobile app and people will be able to pay online using debit/credit card or mobile payment methods. At present, as part of the initial pilot, this e-rickshaw service will be made available to commuters at Khapri, New Airport, Airport South, Airport Jaiprakash Nagar, Sitabardi Subhash Nagar and Lokmanya Nagar Metro Station in Nagpur.</p>
<p>Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO, Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions said, &ldquo;We are extremely happy to partner with MahaMetro to provide environment friendly yet cost effective mode of last mile transport to their passengers. With this MoU, we will be offering affordable rides at Rs 10 per ride to commuters of MahaMetro and I think this will also contribute to increasing popularity of the metro services. With this MoU we will be starting with a pilot batch of 20 vehicles and then eventually we will ramp to 15 vehicles per station. Kinetic Green has been providing similar fleet operation for last-mile connectivity at Kochi Metro successfully and we are confident that the citizens of Nagpur will be pleased with this service.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Dr. Brijesh Dixit, MD, MahaMetro said, &ldquo;We are excited to partner with Kinetic Green to provide e-rickshaws to our commuters in Nagpur. At MahaMetro we always have a sensitive approach towards environment, therefore, our Rail Projects are one of the greenest projects in India with up to 65 percent energy to come from solar panels.&rdquo;</p>
<p>MahaMetro Nagpur has started to establish charging stations across the metro stations, with the first charging station at Khapri Airport metro station already being ready.</p>
<![CDATA[Kinetic Green will deploy its electric three-wheeler the Kinetic Safar across all metro stations in Nagpur to provide last-mile rides to the passengers.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa11c4d9-e1f8-48b7-87b3-2edc22649c3d.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa11c4d9-e1f8-48b7-87b3-2edc22649c3d.jpg&h=485&w=73544063https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-green-to-provide-erickshaws-to-mahametro-for-lastmile-connectivity-44063
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-green-to-provide-erickshaws-to-mahametro-for-lastmile-connectivity-44063Wed, 11 Sep 2019 14:52:00First instantly-charging electric 3-wheeler unveiled<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d1423c11-f5ea-430d-be01-b7f920cd8f34.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The Singapore-based Shado Group, which says it is one of the world&rsquo;s leading providers of electric vehicle (EV) technology and charging infrastructure from Singapore, has unveiled India&rsquo;s first affordable, low-voltage, high-performance instantly-charged electric three-wheeler, called Erick.</strong></p>
<p>Developed by Adarin Engineering Technologies, a Shado Group company, Erick is specifically targeted at the Indian commercial market, has a range of 70km per charge, is capable of operating at high ambient temperatures and exceeds traditional petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles in performance.</p>
<p>A key product highlight&nbsp;is the proprietary ultra-capacitor battery, which is claimed to be able to charge in a scant 5 minutes!&nbsp;The Shado Group says its&nbsp;low-voltage, high-performance&nbsp;Electrans powertrain enables extreme commercial use with safer, low-voltage electric motors. Its &#39;instantly-charged&#39;&nbsp;and longer-lasting, Ultracapacitor power storage charges in minutes with a 25,000 duty cycle lifetime.</p>
<p>The Group also says it solves the energy infrastructure problem by creating mobile &#39;Powerbanks&#39;&nbsp;that can be located anywhere in a city, as well as fixed charging stations attached to existing infrastructure. It adds that&nbsp;Shado is the only company in Asia that provides this capability &ndash; from on-grid fixed charging stations or off- grid mobile solar powered charging points.</p>
<p>The Erick three-wheeler comes in two variants &ndash;&nbsp;passenger and cargo&nbsp;&ndash; and, according to the Shadow Group, will equip drivers and fleet owners in India with a powerful, robust transport solution and empower owners to develop &ndash; and profit from &ndash; their own charging infrastructure.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/SHADOW.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 518px;" title=""></p>
<p>&ldquo;The needs of drivers and fleet owners in India are simple when it comes to their vehicles: cheaper to operate, durable and with lower charging downtime. The Shado Group has&nbsp;matched and gone beyond these requirements,&rdquo; says Dr Saurabh Markandeya, co-CEO and executive director for the Shado Group.</p>
<p>He adds, &ldquo;Our three-wheelers are able to match and even exceed existing equivalent petrol and diesel engines yet with lower maintenance and zero emissions. The batteries charge in minutes and last 20x longer than existing electric ones on the market and do not degrade even in temperatures ranging from -25 to +60 degree Celsius &ndash; this is the robustness that Indian owners are looking for. Lastly, the Erick is affordable, costing only Rs 1.50 per kilometre.&quot;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Hi-tech and robust</span></strong><br>
The company says the technology behind the Erick is the result of years of R&amp;D conducted in Singapore and India that has produced a number of patented products.</p>
<p>The powertrain within the Erick is powered by &lsquo;Electrans&rsquo;, an indigenously developed electric powertrain consisting of a low-voltage motor integrated with differential and a liquid-cooled motor controller delivering extreme torque even at low speeds. This means that users can transport heavier loads (up to 500kg) while managing a range of hillslopes without any loss of performance. Electrans, according to the company, may also be used in other vehicle and chassis types. It can also be used to convert existing fossil fuel-powered auto-rickshaws, cars and light trucks.</p>
<p>The ultracapacitor battery uses di-electric material which does not produce any chemical reaction (unlike traditional Lithium-Ion batteries) meaning they last much longer and charge quicker. The battery performance is managed by Shado Group&rsquo;s proprietary AI-based self-learning algorithm for passive and active balancing, ensuring consistent power output and efficient charging.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/17/web%2021w6QgXxlw.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 550px;" title=""></p>
<p><i>Passenger version of the Erick electric three-wheeler. </i><em>The Shado Group plans to&nbsp;manufacture up to 1,000 units per month for the Indian market.</em><br>
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<strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Make in India </span></strong><br>
​The Shado Group says it is set to invest over US$10 million over two years in its factory in Pune, India, with plans to manufacture up to 1,000 units per month for the Indian market. The vehicles are designed and manufactured by the Bangalore-based Adarin Engineering Technologies following a merger with the Shado Group.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Empowering the Erick user</span></strong><br>
By offering an electric three-wheeler solution that matches or exceeds the performance of equivalent fossil fuel-powered vehicles yet charges in minutes, the Shado Group says it has solved the challenge that traditional EVs face &ndash; long charging times. Electric vehicle fleet ownership and management becomes much easier and more profitable when vehicles are not spending hours re-charging;&nbsp;instead Erick&rsquo;s drivers will be able to access a number of charging options. These include on-grid charging stations in set locations that are connected to the electric grid. They may also access solar-powered mobile charging stations located in carparks, side streets or other easily accessible places within a city.</p>
<p>To drive the creation of a charging ecosystem, Shado Group allows fleet owners and entrepreneurs to invest in the charging stations themselves and allow other owners to charge their vehicles on a &lsquo;Pay-For-Kilometres&rsquo; basis. As owners generate profit and expand their charging network we will see the development of a city-wide charging ecosystem will evolve that is able to support both Shado and non-Shado vehicles, laying the groundwork for the wider adoption of electric vehicles among consumers.</p>
<p><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">Spurring mass adoption</span></strong><br>
&ldquo;We will not see the mass adoption of EVs in India &ndash; or Asia &ndash; without adequate charging infrastructure&rdquo; continues Dr Markandeya, &ldquo;Electric vehicles need to match traditional vehicles in performance, cost and durability, as well as have the requisite charging infrastructure in place. Until now, existing vehicles take too long to charge, are expensive and charging stations are few and far between. By starting with India&rsquo;s SMEs and entrepreneurs, the Shado Group intends to build out a country-wide charging ecosystem that will go on to enable the widespread consumer adoption of electric vehicles&rdquo;.</p>
<p>By working with businesses, the Shado Group says it aims to&nbsp;knit together a city-wide charging infrastructure that will spur mass electric vehicle adoption by consumers. The&nbsp;Group is headquartered&nbsp;in Singapore, with a R&amp;D centre in Bangalore, manufacturing plant in Pune, India and an R&amp;D office in Malacca, Malaysia.</p>
<![CDATA[Developed by Bangalore-based Adarin Engineering Technologies, the Erick electric passenger and cargo three-wheelers feature batteries that charge in five minutes; Singapore’s Shado Group set to invest over US$10 million (Rs 68.56 crore) over two years in its factory in Pune, India, with plans to manufacture up to 1,000 units per month for the Indian market.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d1423c11-f5ea-430d-be01-b7f920cd8f34.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/d1423c11-f5ea-430d-be01-b7f920cd8f34.jpg&h=485&w=73543821https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/first-instantlycharging-electric-3wheeler-unveiled-43821
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/first-instantlycharging-electric-3wheeler-unveiled-43821Wed, 14 Aug 2019 10:15:00Piaggio to roll out electric Ape with Sun Mobility battery swapping tech this year<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa51f707-f685-4096-b70e-cd7ed4ee1891.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Piaggio Vehicles, the Indian subsidiary of Piaggio Group today, launched its new three-wheeler offering for the<span style="color:#FF0000;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-launches-new-ape-city--3w-for-lastmile-connectivity-43294" target="_blank"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Indian market, the Ape City +</span></a>. What&rsquo;s interesting is that despite the overall economic slowdown, the company says it has been able to retain sales volume and register a positive growth last year.</strong></p>
<p>What&rsquo;s more, the company which has been preparing to make a foray into electric mobility in the country, is not shying from speaking its mind on plans to introduce an electric three-wheeler in India. In fact, speaking to&nbsp;<em>Autocar Professional&nbsp;</em>on the sideline of the Ape City + launch, Diego Graffi, MD and CEO, Piaggio Vehicles, said that the company is more optimistic about the success of an electric three-wheeler in the country, compared to making a play in the electric two-wheeler space.</p>
<p>Following up on comments on the development of its electric three-wheeler, which is expected to be introduced in the country in the last quarter of CY2019 (September-December), Graffi revealed that the company is in advanced stages and in fact has partnered <strong><a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/sun-mobility-inaugurates-inter-operable-battery-swapping-solution-wheelers-29094"><span style="color:#00923E;">Sun Mobility, the Bangalore-based innovative battery swapping company</span></a></strong>, to begin its green mobility programme.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We will introduce an electric three-wheeler with battery swapping technology this year. We adopted the battery swapping technology because we think that is the best solution from the customer perspective. It can help address charging anxiety of the vehicle being idle for three to five hours when it is being charged. We will start with only battery swapping, later we will also adopt charging technology,&rdquo; said Graffi.</p>
<p>Responding to a query how Piaggio plans to incorporate battery swapping technology and the investments it will need to make to drive this, he replied, &ldquo;We are partnering with Bangalore-based Sun Mobility, which is quite an innovative company. Bangalore is one city that we are definitely looking at because when we launch the e-three-wheeler, we will also need to provide the infrastructure (battery swapping).&rdquo;</p>
<p>In terms of investment, he said that the company will not make any direct investment but will partner with &ldquo;somebody that will invest&rdquo; for the infrastructure (battery swapping station). &ldquo;Our ambition is to produce the electric three-wheeler and provide mobility solutions. Of course, we have to partner with somebody to provide the infrastructure &ndash; it could be the dealers who can install the battery swapping station at their premises, it could be someone else, or Sun Mobility itself investing in the same places across Bangalore or Pune.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://bit.ly/2MNai8w"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Sun Mobility reveals inter-operable battery swapping station for 2- and 3-wheelers</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[Piaggio Vehicles says it has chosen Sun Mobility's battery swapping technology because we think that is the best solution from the customer perspective.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa51f707-f685-4096-b70e-cd7ed4ee1891.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/fa51f707-f685-4096-b70e-cd7ed4ee1891.JPG&h=485&w=73543295https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-to-roll-out-electric-ape-with-sun-mobility-battery-swapping-tech-this-year-43295
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-to-roll-out-electric-ape-with-sun-mobility-battery-swapping-tech-this-year-43295Fri, 14 Jun 2019 16:48:00Keto to invest $10 million for manufacturing e-auto in India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8cc662dc-b6c2-432f-a517-7a6aaab86c66.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Keto, a joint venture between Telangana-based ETO Motors and Hong Kong-based&nbsp;Kyto Green Technologies, plan&nbsp;to set up a new manufacturing facility for electric autorickshaws in the country. The company showcased its flagship product for the first time at the EV Expo 2018, that began today at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.</strong></p>
<p>Commenting on the launch of Kyto and the company&rsquo;s future plans, Balram Narayankar, director, Keto said, &ldquo;Keto is likely to invest $10 million (Rs 70 crore) in next two years, and the funds will be utilised for setting up a new plant with a capacity of 50,000 units annually, and towards R&amp;D of the product. Our focus is to make these vehicles accessible and affordable to all; so in addition to retailing, Keto is considering leasing options.&rdquo;</p>
<p><img alt="Keto e-rickshaw" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/15/WhatsApp%20Image%202018-12-21%20at%205_10_30%20PM.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 735px; height: 485px;" title="Keto e-rickshaw"></p>
<p>The company claims that the e-autos are designed to meet the EU standards and come in three variants - Kyto 3, Kyto 5 and Kyto Cargo - which will cater to various customers needs in the domestic market. While Kyto 3 and Kyto 5 are three- and five-seater passenger vehicles; Kyto Cargo is aimed as a goods and waste collection vehicle.</p>
<p>Commenting on the launch of e-trikes in India, Grayson Richards, MD, Kyto Green Technologies said, &ldquo;Electric autorickshaws are a revolution in the public transportation and cargo sectors, and India will witness this change unfold across the country, starting today. Our vehicles are superior in&nbsp; performance and style and are designed from the ground up as electric vehicles by an expert team of automotive engineers. Kyto vehicles are eco-friendly and come with recyclable exterior panels. These technologically advanced vehicles maintain industry-best safety standards across all variants, and are equipped with high quality electronic control systems from the United States.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The company claims the e-autorickshaws come with the first-of-its-kind features in the segment such as an automotive driver seat with headrest and three-point seatbelt, foamed rear seat with high back and two-point seatbelts for passenger safety and a steel rear bumper with collapsible crush structure for absorbing low impact collision forces.</p>
<![CDATA[the e-autos are designed to meet the EU standards and come in three variants - Kyto 3, Kyto 5 and Kyto Cargo]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8cc662dc-b6c2-432f-a517-7a6aaab86c66.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/8cc662dc-b6c2-432f-a517-7a6aaab86c66.jpg&h=485&w=73541670https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/keto-to-invest-$10-million-for-manufacturing-eauto-in-india-41670
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/keto-to-invest-$10-million-for-manufacturing-eauto-in-india-41670Fri, 21 Dec 2018 15:34:00Mahindra Electric partners SmartE for last-mile connectivity<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/f655898d-6f9d-4efe-bfd2-8c82748606d5.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Mahindra Electric Mobility and SmartE, an electric vehicle owner and aggregator operating in Delhi-NCR, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) for deploying electric vehicles for last-mile connectivity in India.</strong></p>
<p>As per the MoU, SmartE will introduce the first <strong><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-bets-big-on-emobility--opens-new-ev-tech-plant--launches-treo-3w-at-rs-136-000-41332"><span style="color:#0000ff;">1,000 Mahindra Treo and Treo Yaari electric three-wheelers</span></a><span style="color:#0000ff;"> </span></strong>in the Delhi-NCR region by March 2019. The company also plans to deploy a total of 10,000 Mahindra electric three-wheelers across the country by 2020. &nbsp;The MoU was signed by Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric and Goldie Srivastava, co-founder and CEO, SmartE in New Delhi.</p>
<p>The company says they have come together, to offer convenient, affordable and zero-emission last-mile connectivity, not just for the NCR region but also for major cities around the country. The partnership is an example of collaboration between companies to address India&rsquo;s growing need for clean, shared and public mobility solutions, and it aims to rapidly transform the overall EV adoption rate in the country.</p>
<p>Interestingly, SmartE is betting big on electric vehicles for supporting last-mile connectivity, and had recently<span style="color:#0000ff;"> </span><strong><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/sun-mobility-partners-with-smarte-to-better-lastmile-connectivity-41429"><span style="color:#0000ff;">partnered Sun Mobility for deploying energy infrastructure for 500 vehicles (10 battery swap stations) in Gurgaon</span></a></strong> by end of the ongoing fiscal and eventually expand to other key cities across the country. The swapping stations would require substantially lesser space than the conventional charging stations set up by SmartE.</p>
<p>Speaking on the association, Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric, said: &ldquo;As the pioneers of electric mobility, we are happy to join forces with SmartE to accelerate the adoption of e-mobility. India is witnessing rapid urbanisation and metros are driving the multi-modal mobility needs of the large working population in urban cities. Our Treo range of three wheelers will address the demand for first and last mile connectivity and transform the way urban India travels. Associations with partners such as SmartE will make it easier to adopt e-mobility and enable our cities to be more environment friendly.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Goldie Srivastava, co-founder and CEO, SmartE, said, &ldquo;We are excited to embark on this journey with Mahindra Electric in our efforts to make the last-mile commute convenient, safe, affordable and eco-friendly for everyone. We look forward to shifting to the zero-emission, cost-efficient, and more comfortable Mahindra Treo range of electric three-wheelers. As a pioneer in the electric mobility service space, SmartE plans to roll-out 100,000 vehicles by 2022. We believe Mahindra Electric&rsquo;s solutions will play a critical role in our growth strategy."</p>
<p>At present, SmartE already has an ongoing partnership with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, among other organisations clocking around 80,000 rides daily. SmartE has completed over 30 million pollution-free rides in the last three years since its inception. The MoU with Mahindra specifically addresses the last-mile connectivity needs of Delhi Metro commuters. SmartE, which has already built a captive EV charging network for 800 vehicles (concurrently) will be ramping up its EV Charging set-up to support the additional 1,000 vehicles in Delhi. With this addition, SmartE&rsquo;s fleet of EVs will cross 2,000 vehicles by March 2019 and will help serve over 200,000 commuters per day.</p>
<p>As the global pioneer in the development and production of electric vehicles, Mahindra Electric currently has over 5,000 electric vehicles on road, which have clocked more than 95 million km. The Treo range of electric three wheelers uses Mahindra Electric&rsquo;s home grown powertrain and maintenance-free lithium-ion battery.</p>
<p><strong>Also read: </strong><strong><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/sun-mobility-partners-with-smarte-to-better-lastmile-connectivity-41429"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Sun Mobility partners with SmartE to better last-mile connectivity</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/feature/mahindra-electric-plots-aggressive-growth-and-a-raft-of-new-models-40645"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Mahindra Electric inks MoU with TWU, will roll out 2,000 Treo 3Ws by 2019</span></a></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-electric-inks-mou-with-twu--will-roll-out-2-000-treo-3ws-by-2019-41357"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Mahindra Electric plots aggressive growth and a raft of new models</span></a></strong></p>
<![CDATA[The partners will introduce 1,000 Treo range of electric three-wheelers in Delhi-NCR by March 2019.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/f655898d-6f9d-4efe-bfd2-8c82748606d5.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/f655898d-6f9d-4efe-bfd2-8c82748606d5.jpg&h=485&w=73541557https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-electric-partners-smarte-for-lastmile-connectivity-41557
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-electric-partners-smarte-for-lastmile-connectivity-41557Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:00:00Yamaha's 3CT leaning multi-wheel commuter prototype at EICMA 2018<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/3fbbd1c6-b03a-4ce6-983b-0db59fed12b4.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Yamaha Motor Co is to exhibit the&nbsp;3CT&nbsp;at the&nbsp;EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milan, Italy, open to the public from November 8 to 11. Powered by a 300cc&nbsp;liquid-cooled engine, the&nbsp;3CT&nbsp;is a new LMW (leaning multi-wheel) commuter prototype model.</strong></p>
<p>As part of its Medium-Term Management Plan, Yamaha Motor is promoting the &lsquo;growing world of personal mobility&rsquo; as one of the growth strategies, and LMW technology is one of the central pillars of this strategy.</p>
<p>Beginning with the&nbsp;Tricity 125&nbsp;(launched in 2014), and continuing with the&nbsp;Tricity 155&nbsp;(on sale from 2017) capable of riding on freeways&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Niken&nbsp;(launched in 2018), which with its 845cc engine is the first large sports model LMW, Yamaha has expanded its LMW product line-up.<br />
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The&nbsp;3CT&nbsp;is a sports commuter prototype model with the distinctive LMW two front wheel mechanism. By combining LMW features such as a strong sense of stability while turning with a 300cc&nbsp;engine, the&nbsp;3CT&nbsp;delivers both sporty and comfortable weekday commuting as well as enjoyable weekend recreational riding.&nbsp;<br />
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As well as the&nbsp;3CT, the Yamaha booth at the EICMA exhibition will also display the&nbsp;Ténéré 700&nbsp;adventure model, which features a parallel-twin 689cc&nbsp;engine mounted in a lightweight double-cradle frame, and the&nbsp;NikenGT, which includes a rich array of features for comfortable long-distance cruising, such as pannier bags and heated hand grips.</p>
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<![CDATA[By combining LMW features such as high stability levels while turning with a 300cc engine, the 3CT is aimed at both sporty and comfortable weekday commuting as well as enjoyable weekend recreational riding.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/3fbbd1c6-b03a-4ce6-983b-0db59fed12b4.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/3fbbd1c6-b03a-4ce6-983b-0db59fed12b4.jpg&h=485&w=73541252https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/yamaha 3ct-leaning-multiwheel-commuter-prototype-at-eicma-2018-41252
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/yamaha 3ct-leaning-multiwheel-commuter-prototype-at-eicma-2018-41252Tue, 06 Nov 2018 10:47:00Piaggio rolls out its 2.5 millionth small CV in India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7235c3de-c0e8-45c5-be44-d88f61c09070.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>August 2 turned out to be an august day for Piaggio Vehicles, the 100 percent subsidiary of the Italian Piaggio Group. The company rolled out its 2.5 millionth small commercial vehicle -- an Apé Xtra LDX -- from the assembly line at the Baramati plant in Maharashtra. </strong><br />
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To mark the production milestone, Piaggio announced some customer-centric initiatives like the &#39;Super Warranty&rsquo; program and the personal accident insurance program, and also launched a new range of&nbsp;Apé CNG/ LPG&nbsp;vehicles.</p>
<p>Under the &lsquo;Super Warranty&rsquo; program, customers buying Apé Diesel three-wheelers &nbsp;get a warranty for 42 months or 120,000 kilometres (whichever is earlier). Customers buying the Apé CNG/ LPG/ Petrol three-wheelers will be entitled to a warranty of 36 months or 100,000 kilometres (whichever is earlier).&nbsp; And, each Piaggio customer buying a three-wheeler will be entitled to a personal accident insurance cover of Rs 100,000.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Speaking on the occasion, Ravi Chopra, chairman of Piaggio Vehicles, said,&nbsp;&ldquo;We created the market, grew the market and owned the market in the last mile connectivity segment .The rollout of the 2.5 millionth vehicle is a testimony of the trust shown by the customer in Piaggio&lsquo;s products reliability. It is pertinent to note that Piaggio&lsquo;s offerings are not just vehicles but are a strong source of creating self-employment which is extremely vital for the growth of the nation. I see many new opportunities for us in the coming future as the Indian market is set to gain a more predominant role in Piaggio &lsquo;s global business.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While announcing the customer-centric initiatives, Diego Graffi, MD and CEO of Piaggio Vehicles said,&nbsp;&ldquo;It is our endeavour to continue providing best-in-class offerings to our customers like the super warranty which will lower the operating cost for our customers and increase their earnings. In addition the personal accident Insurance cover provides a much-needed support to the family of the driver/ customer in case of any unforeseen circumstances.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Talking about the company&rsquo;s new range of alternate fuel vehicles, Graffi said,&nbsp;&ldquo;The emphasis on alternate fuel technology is growing every day in the country and hence we introduced an improved range of alternate fuel vehicles to cater to the market&rsquo;s needs.&rdquo;</p>
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<![CDATA[An Apé Xtra LDX three-wheeler is the landmark vehicle from the Baramati plant.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7235c3de-c0e8-45c5-be44-d88f61c09070.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/7235c3de-c0e8-45c5-be44-d88f61c09070.jpg&h=485&w=73540344https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-rolls-out-its-25-millionth-small-cv-in-india-40344
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-rolls-out-its-25-millionth-small-cv-in-india-40344Thu, 02 Aug 2018 21:56:00Lohia Auto enters diesel 3W segment with Humsafar passenger and cargo model<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/320399bc-80af-4734-b737-fb6c883422a5.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Lohia Auto Industries, has entered the diesel three-wheeler segment with the launch of two new models the Humsafar DLX (driver+5 passenger) and the Humsafar 2000 (cargo) priced at Rs&nbsp;184,768 and Rs 180,160 respectively (ex-Uttar Pradesh).</strong></p>
<p>The company claims that the two models are the recent addition to its improved and customised range and come with features that make these two diesel-run vehicles one of its kind. They are specially designed for the Indian roads to carry heavy loads are equipped with high-shock absorbing technology.</p>
<p>According to Lohia Auto the Humsafar 2000 loader, due its size, weight and robust structure is ideal for carrying goods and will make it a great investment for people in the cargo business, while the&nbsp;Humsafar DLX passenger&nbsp;is a focussed for the riders as it offers a stylish body design with striking colours and the curves are optimised to create a visual appeal while keeping the seating compact yet spacious.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/Portals/0/userfiles/13/humsafar%20DX5.jpg&h=485&w=735" style="width: 384px; height: 404px;" title=""></p>
<p>Both the models have a &lsquo;single cylinder&rsquo; naturally aspirated and air cooled; and&nbsp;&lsquo;four-stroke Diesel DI compression ignition engine&rsquo; with a ground clearance of 180mm. Additionally, the two models are also equipped with dual hydraulic shock absorber with helical spring, which it states is highly equipped to absorb the rear shocks creating a smoother travel.&nbsp;</p>
<p>These models are also equipped with &lsquo;four-speed constant mesh&rsquo; gear box, the rear shock absorber has independent suspension with triangular arm, rubber compression spring and a monocoque chassis design with pressed steel sheet. The rear brake drum is accompanied with an automatic adjuster that ensures that the ride is comfortable in all rural, urban, pitted roads and streets.</p>
<p>Commenting on the launch of the Humsafar series&nbsp; Ayush Lohia,&nbsp;CEO,&nbsp;Lohia Auto Industries&nbsp;said, &ldquo;For Humsafar 2000 loader and DLX passenger, rugged terrains, narrow streets, and long distances would be an easy travel as Humsafar is equipped with advanced features like high loading capacity combined with power and control delivering high on performance. We understand the needs of our customers, their commuting habits and the conditions of the Indian roads and as a global conglomerate, we believe in providing smart mobility solutions meeting the international standards.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Humsafar guarantees of a technology that provides high durability, agility in addition with a well-designed look, custom fitting interiors, and phenomenal finish. Both the models are easy to operate and have enhanced engine life that would offer an easy maintenance,&rdquo; added Lohia.</p>
<p>The company claims it has a well charted out network of 100+ dealers across India working towards providing a better availability of sales and service to its customers.&nbsp;</p>
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<![CDATA[The company claims that the two models are the recent addition to its improved and customised range and come with features that make these two diesel-run vehicles one of its kind. They are specially designed for the Indian roads to carry heavy loads are equipped with high-shock absorbing technology.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/320399bc-80af-4734-b737-fb6c883422a5.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/320399bc-80af-4734-b737-fb6c883422a5.jpg&h=485&w=73540141https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-enters-diesel-3w-segment-with-humsafar-passenger-and-cargo-model-40141
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-enters-diesel-3w-segment-with-humsafar-passenger-and-cargo-model-40141Wed, 11 Jul 2018 12:50:00Bajaj Auto increases three-wheeler market share to 58.15%<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/477/68477/three-wheelers.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Even as the Indian automotive industry's robust growth of 14.22 percent in FY2018 (PVs: 7.89%; CVs: 19.94%; 3Ws: 24.19% and 2Ws: 14.80%) makes headlines, the three-wheeler segment saw record production and sales.</strong></p>
<p>The industry saw a total of 635,698 units being sold, an increase of 24.19 percent (FY2017: 511,879 units), which includes 517,423 passenger carriers and 118,275 goods carriers. Contrary to some predictions that four-wheeled mini-trucks would eat into the growth of the three-wheeler market, the record numbers reported by&nbsp;3W OEMs reiterates that these last-mile connectivity vehicles will continue to sell.</p>
<p>Three-wheeler market leader <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Bajaj Auto</strong></span> sold a total of 369,637 units, an increase of 8.7 percent, which includes 346,846 passenger carriers (+7.36%) and 22,791 goods carriers (+7.27%). The smart uptick helped the company further increase its market share from 49.45 percent in FY2017 to 58.15 percent in FY2018. Interestingly, the Pune-based OEM was the sole player in the segment whose market share has increased substantially.</p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>TVS Motor Co</strong></span>, the Chennai-based manufacturer, was the only other company which managed to increase its market share. It sold a total of 16,429 units, up 33.82 percent, which helped it increase its market share to 2.58 percent (+0.18%) YoY. It sold 16,429 passenger carrier vehicles, and increased its market share from 3.05 percent to 3.18 percent.</p>
<p>The second largest player in the segment, <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Piaggio Vehicles </strong></span>sold 152,879 units, a marginal increase of 1.16 percent. Interestingly despite the marginal YoY growth, its market share came down to 24.05 percent in FY2018 from the existing 29.52 percent.<br><br></p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 1514px;"><img alt="3w" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/478/68478/3w.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='3w' width='1514' height='575'></div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Bajaj Auto sold a total of 369,637 units, an increase of 8.7 percent, which includes 346,846 passenger carriers (+7.36%) and 22,791 goods carriers (+7.27%).]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/477/68477/three-wheelers.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/477/68477/three-wheelers.jpg&h=485&w=73529009https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-increases-wheeler-market-share-5815-29009
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-increases-wheeler-market-share-5815-29009Tue, 10 Apr 2018 18:09:00Bajaj Auto takes 57% market share in three-wheelers<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/067/67067/bajaj-plant-web-dsc-0128.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>With all vehicle segments, barring mopeds and M&amp;HCV and LCV (passenger carriers), registering strong growth in the first 11 months of the ongoing fiscal, FY2018 looks set to be a news-making year for the Indian automobile industry. The three-wheeler segment too is firing on all cylinders, having recorded total sales of 563,233 units (+19.11%).&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>These numbers indicate that demand in the three-wheeler market, which in FY2016-17 fell 4.93 percent to 511,658 units, has returned. Industry experts had said that the decline was due to three-wheelers being replaced by aggressively priced, small four-wheeled mini-trucks. But current industry numbers belie that. Within the three-wheeler segment, both passenger carriers (457,719 / +22.36%) and goods carriers (105,514 / +6.80%) have seen demand come their way this fiscal.</p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>How the OEMs fared</strong><strong><br> </strong></span>Making the most of the resurgent demand for three-wheelers is market leader <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Bajaj Auto</strong></span>, which has sold a total of 325,024 units in the first 11 months of FY2018, notching year-on-year growth of 38.07 percent. This comprises 305,053 passenger carriers (+36.23%) and 19,971 goods carriers (73.87%). This handsome uptick in its sales has seen Bajaj Auto record a remarkable increase in market share &ndash; from 49.78 percent in April-February 2017 to 57.71 percent in April-February 2018. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>TVS Motor Co</strong> </span>has also made gains, albeit smaller. The Chennai-based manufacturer sold 14,564 units in the fiscal year till now, which marks a YoY growth of 27.83 percent. This performance has helped the company increase its market share to 2.59 percent from 2.41 percent a year ago.</p>
<p>All the other players in this segment have seen market share declines, which could be a result of Bajaj Auto and TVS eating into their share despite the overall market growing by 19.10 percent to 563,233 units from 472,879 units a year ago.</p>
<p>While<span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong> Piaggio Vehicles</strong></span>, the No. 2 player, has sold 137,690 units, which marks flat growth of 0.95 percent, <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</strong></span> sold 48,023 units (+1.64%). Meanwhile, the Rajkot-based&nbsp;<span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Atul Auto</strong></span>&nbsp;sold a total of 35,612 units, a 5.89 YoY increase.The final OEM in the segment is&nbsp;<span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Scooters India</strong>&nbsp;</span>which, with sales of 2,320 units, is down 62.57 percent.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 1441px;"><img alt="final" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/065/67065/final.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='final' width='1441' height='578' border='0'></div>
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<p><strong>Also Read:</strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/exclusive-tvs-motor-sells-million-scooters-india-fiscal-28573">Exclusive: TVS Motor sells a million scooters in India for&nbsp;first&nbsp;time ever in a fiscal</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/winners-losers-suv-market-share-game-28565">Winners and losers in the SUV market share game</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/-wheeler-sales-grow-2633-yoy-february-2018-28371">Two-wheeler sales grow by 26.33% YoY in February 2018</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-reports/boom-midsize-motorcycles-india-28493">Boom time for midsize motorcycles in India</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/winners-losers-wheeler-game-28540">Movers and shakers in the Indian two-wheeler industry</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" title="Scooters power two-wheeler industry growth in Q1 FY2018" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/scooters-power-wheeler-industry-growth-q1-fy2018-25425">Scooters power two-wheeler industry growth in Q1 FY2018</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" title="Top 10 Scooters &ndash; January 2018 | Honda Activa and TVS Jupiter firing on all cylinders" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/india-sales-scooters-january-2018-honda-activa-tvs-jupiter-firing-cylinders-28226">Top 10 Scooters &ndash; January 2018 | Honda Activa and TVS Jupiter firing on all cylinders</a></strong></span></p>
<div>&nbsp;</div><![CDATA[Making the most of the resurgent demand for three-wheelers is market leader Bajaj Auto, which has sold a total of 325,024 units in the first 11 months of FY2018, notching year-on-year growth of 38.07 percent.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/067/67067/bajaj-plant-web-dsc-0128.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/067/67067/bajaj-plant-web-dsc-0128.jpg&h=485&w=73528579https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-takes-57-market-share-wheelers-28579
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-takes-57-market-share-wheelers-28579Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:45:00TVS Motor reports Rs 3,685 crore revenue for Q3FY18, up 23.5%<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/922/64922/email-tvs-factory-3.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Domestic two- and three-wheeler major TVS Motor Company has reported its Q3 FY 2017-18 revenue of Rs 2,984 crore an increase of 23.5 percent compared to Rs 2,984 crore for the same period last year.</strong></p>
<p>The company reported PAT of Rs 154 crore an increase of 16.3 percent compared to Rs 133 crore in the corresponding period last year.&nbsp;In Q3 FY18 the company sold a total of 799,000 units of two-wheeler an increase of 13.8 percent, compared to 703,000 units for the same period last year.</p>
<p>The company says its motorcycle segment sales grew by 26.7 percent to 314,000 units in the quarter ended December 2017 from 248,000 units in the third quarter of 2016-17. While the scooter sales increased by 21.6 percent from 221,000 units to 269,000 units YoY.</p>
<p>On the export front, the company shipped 140,000 units of two- and three-wheelers in the quarter as against 99,000 units in the previous year, registering a growth of 42.4 percent.</p>
<p>In the three-wheeler segment, TVS registered a growth of 67.7 percent selling 26,968 units in the quarter, compared to 16,081 units for the same period last year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Sales from motorcycle and scooter products help drive TVS Motor's growth story.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/922/64922/email-tvs-factory-3.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/922/64922/email-tvs-factory-3.jpg&h=485&w=73527916https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-rs-685cr-revenue-q3fy18-235-27916
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-rs-685cr-revenue-q3fy18-235-27916Tue, 30 Jan 2018 13:19:00Electric Morgan EV3 due on roads in 2018 with 120-mile range<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/722/63722/lead-image-morgan-ev3-image-1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The&nbsp;Morgan&nbsp;EV3, the first electric series production car in the company's history, will arrive on roads in the fourth quarter of 2018 with a claimed range of 120 miles.</strong></p>
<p>Based on the successful&nbsp;3 Wheeler&nbsp;sports car, the EV3 has been developed with British technology firm Frazer-Nash Energy Systems and swaps the 3 Wheeler&rsquo;s 80bhp V-twin engine for a liquid-cooled 56bhp electric motor&nbsp;fed by a 21kWh lithium battery.</p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2Y7ghj-frns" width="699" height="392" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>Despite the addition of a heavy electric powertrain, the EV3 weighs less than 500kg &ndash; a significant reduction on the 525kg of the standard 3 Wheeler. Part of that saving is due to new lightweight carbonfibre composite body panels, marking the first time Morgan has used this material.</p>
<p>The company hasn't confirmed performance statistics for the production car, but it has previously claimed that the concept that inspired it would be able to hit 0-62mph in less than 9.0sec, with a top speed of more than 90mph. In comparison, the 3 Wheeler gets from 0-62mph in 8.0sec, with a top speed of around 115mph.</p>
<p>The interior of the EV3 features a classic &lsquo;magneto&rsquo; switch for drive selection, a digital screen and wood, brass and polished aluminium trim. The overall design is inspired&nbsp;Inspired by 1930s aero-engine race cars, classic motorcycles and 1950s fantasy automatons (mechanical devices made to imitate humans).</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 900px;"><img alt="morgan-ev3-248" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/720/63720/morgan-ev3-248.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='morgan-ev3-248' width='900' height='596'></div>
<p>Production of the EV3 is due to begin in the third quarter of 2018 at Morgan's&nbsp;Pickersleigh Road factory in Worcestershire.&nbsp;Company technology director Graham Chapman told <em>Autocar UK</em> that two cars will be built per week, with no limit to&nbsp;production numbers.&nbsp;So far, 60 deposits have been received. The car is currently undergoing pre-production testing.</p>
<p>When it first announced the&nbsp;EV3, Morgan said the car &ldquo;looks at the world of zero-emissions motoring from an entirely different perspective; what if an all-electric vehicle was bespoke, hand-crafted and exhilarating to drive?</p>
<p>"The EV3 embraces new technology, delivers responsible driving excitement and continues to celebrate traditional British craftsmanship.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Morgan managing director Steve Morris said: &ldquo;The EV3 is an exciting opportunity for our customers to enjoy the unique Morgan driving experience and the joy of tailored manufacture while remaining conscientious towards the future of our planet.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 900px;"><img alt="morgan-ev3-252" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/721/63721/morgan-ev3-252.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='morgan-ev3-252' width='900' height='596'></div>
<p>"We have been working closely on optimising the EV3&rsquo;s architecture in every way to develop a car which will offer proven reliability range and cooling performance, combined with the pure driving experience that is expected of every hand-crafted Morgan."</p>
<p>Morgan is yet to confirm pricing, but has previously told Autocar that&nbsp;the EV3 will be&nbsp;"comparable" with the 3 Wheeler, which currently costs from &pound;31,140 (Rs 30.65 lakh).</p>
<p>The EV3 is Morgan's first electric production car but it's not the brand's first electric vehicle; the&nbsp;Plus E concept came before it in 2012 and signalled the start of the firm's zero-emissions interests.</p><![CDATA[Lightweight three-wheel EV uses technology from Frazer-Nash Energy Systems.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk International, Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/722/63722/lead-image-morgan-ev3-image-1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/722/63722/lead-image-morgan-ev3-image-1.jpg&h=485&w=73527542https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/electric-morgan-ev3-roads-2018-120-mile-range-27542
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/electric-morgan-ev3-roads-2018-120-mile-range-27542Wed, 20 Dec 2017 10:52:00Mahindra & Mahindra expands EV range with new three-wheeler<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/148/59148/img-20170908-163616-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Confirming&nbsp;<em>Autocar Professional&rsquo;s</em>&nbsp;investigative report on&nbsp;<span style="color: #008000;"><a style="color: #008000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-electrics-aggressive-growth-plans-revealed-24778" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-electrics-aggressive-growth-plans-revealed-24778&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1504954359768000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE2CGADo-GaTR0taW9euXFDB_w9Vw">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra&rsquo;s foray into electric three-wheelers</a>,</span> the company today launched its electric three-wheeler e-Alfa Mini priced at Rs 112,000 (ex-Delhi) in an official filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.</strong>&nbsp;</p>
<p>With the e-Alfa Mini, Mahindra now has the widest range of&nbsp;EVs in the country,&nbsp;across segments, for both people and goods transportation. Its current range of offerings includes the e2o Plus hatchback, the eVerito midsized sedan, the eSupro van and now the e-Alfa Mini three-wheeler.</p>
<p>The e-Alfa Mini has&nbsp;a seating capacity of 4+1 and is designed specifically for&nbsp; Indian conditions. The eco-friendly vehicle is available for sale&nbsp;in Delhi NCR and other parts of the country followed by Kolkata, Lucknow, and other cities in a&nbsp;phased manner.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The e-Alfa Mini aims to offer&nbsp;last-mile connectivity and intra-city people movement and&nbsp;is targeted at fleet taxi operators and existing three-wheeler owners. The e-rickshaw comes with an attractive exterior design, robust body, large cabin space for passenger comfort and superior suspension and chassis.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>Travels 85km on a single charge<br /></strong></span>The e-Alfa Mini is powered by a 120Ah battery, a powerful motor and controller. As per Mahindra, charging the e-Alfa Mini will be as simple as charging a mobile phone. It further states that on a full charge, the e-Alfa Mini will be able to cover up to 85km in standard conditions and can achieve a top speed of 25kph.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The e-Alfa Mini will be manufactured at M&amp;M's Haridwar plant in a planned 1,000 units capacity a month operation. Indraprastha Auto, the company's existing dealer, will market the product in NCR through 12 dealerships and also appoint 20-25 sub-dealers in the next couple of months.</p>
<p>Speaking at the launch of the e-Alfa Mini, Rajan Wadhera, president, Automotive Sector, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra,&nbsp;said, &ldquo;As the pioneer of electric vehicles and integrated mobility solutions in India, it has always been our endeavour to make EVs more accessible and best suited for Indian conditions. The launch of the e-Alfa Mini is yet another step to provide an emission-free, green mode of safe intra-city transportation in the country. At Mahindra, we are aligned to the government&rsquo;s vision to become a 100 percent EV nation by 2030.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mahindra will offer consumers a benefit scheme that comprises a 2-year warranty,&nbsp;EMI option of Rs 6,800 per month along with low down-payment of Rs 45,000 and one free battery replacement. Plus, guaranteed service <span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_2101420122">within four hours</span> of a breakdown complaint.</p>
<p>Speaking to <em>Autocar Professional </em>on the launch and plans for the e-three-wheeler<em>, </em>Veejay Ram Nakra, chief, sales &amp; marketing, Automotive Division, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra said, &ldquo;The e-Alfa Mini is being manufactured at Haridwar with a installed capacity of producing 1,000 e-rickshaws per month. The e-Alfa mini will be available through the Indraprastha dealership network in the NCR region which currently has 12 dealerships, which will be increased to 40 by the end of this month. Our electric three-wheeler customers can have peace of mind after buying this Mahindra product, as we will offer them an industry first, guaranteed service <span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_2101420120">within four hours</span> in case of a breakdown.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Also read: <span style="color: #008000;"><a style="color: #008000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-majorly-gain-eesl-evs-25841">M&amp;M to majorly gain from EESL&rsquo;s order for 10,000 EVs </a></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #008000;"><strong><a style="color: #008000;" href="http://ow.ly/vR1e30eZk2k">M&amp;M seeks collaboration to localise EV tech</a></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Also&nbsp;view&nbsp;- <span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/video/dr-pawan-goenka-interview-autocar-professional-india-24908">Dr Pawan Goenka | Interview | Part 1 | Autocar Professional</a>&nbsp;</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/video/interview-dr-pawan-goenka-autocar-professional-25033">Dr Pawan Goenka | Interview | Part 2 | Autocar Professional</a>&nbsp;</span></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[With the e-Alfa Mini, M&M now has the widest range of EVs in India, across segments, for both people and goods transportation. Its range includes the e2o Plus, eVerito, eSupro and e-Alfa.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/148/59148/img-20170908-163616-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/148/59148/img-20170908-163616-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=73526113https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-launches-electric-rickshaw-alfa-mini-rs-112-lakh-26113
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-launches-electric-rickshaw-alfa-mini-rs-112-lakh-26113Fri, 08 Sep 2017 16:28:00Gurgaon gets 500 e-rickshaws under ‘SmartE’ brand<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/948/58948/e-rickshaws-1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Delhi Metro in partnership with Treasure Vase Ventures has launched 500 electric rickshaws (e-rickshaws) at Huda City Centre metro station in Gurugram (Gurgaon) on September, 4, 2017. The first batch of the 1,000 e-rickshaw fleet will be operated from all five Metro stations (Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, M.G.Road, IFFCO Chowk, HUDA City Centre) falling in Gurugram under the &lsquo;SmartE&rsquo; brand. By end of the year, another fleet of 500 e-rickshaws will cover all 14 Metro stations falling in Gurugram and Faridabad.</strong></p>
<p>The e-rickshaws with covered cabin and full front windscreen will provide last mile connectivity within an area of 3-4 kms around Metro stations and will be enabled with CCTV and GPS facility. The fares for these SmartE rides will cost Rs 10 for the first 2 km and Rs 5 for every subsequent km, future plans include enabling payment through Metro Smart Cards.</p>
<p>Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport and highways, shipping and water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, flagged of the first batch of 1,000 e-rickshaws. Commenting on the launch Gadkari, said, &ldquo;The E-rickshaw fleet will not only provide cost effective and pollution free substitute in transport system of Gurugram, but will also generate employment opportunities for the marginalised youth.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He added further that electric public transport is the necessity of the country and his ministry is committed to providing it soon.&nbsp; The e-rickshaws have been manufactured in India and are fitted with GPS and tracking system.</p>
<p>SmartE established strategic partnerships with the Haryana government (HSIIDC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to launch 1,000 vehicles in Gurugram and Faridabad in 2017.&nbsp; The partnership aims to provide self-employment for over 1,00,000 marginalised youths, in next 4-5 years.</p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Pilot projects</strong></span></p>
<p>In May, 2017 the government&rsquo;s premier policy think-tank NITI Aayog released a report that was jointly produced between the think-tank and Rock Mountain Institute titled&nbsp;&lsquo;<span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/india-vision-mobility-banks-shared-evs-24654" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Leaps Ahead: Transformative Mobility Solution</a></span>&rsquo;, laying the vision for achieving a fleet of all electric vehicle in India by 2030. The government and its ministries have been rolling out pilot projects throughout the country aiming to accelerate adoption of EVs in the country.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) set-up it&rsquo;s&nbsp;<span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/ntpc-forays-ev-charging-business-24894" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first charging station</a></span>&nbsp;at the company&rsquo;s premise in Delhi and Noida. While Bengaluru, has&nbsp;<span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bengaluru-charging-stations-evs-435-planned-india-25544" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">25 charging stations</a></span>&nbsp;under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &amp;) Electric Vehicle in India (FAME) scheme. In another instance Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL), a joint venture company of PSUs of the Ministry of Power, government of India, floated a tender to procure&nbsp;<span style="color: #ff0000;"><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-majorly-gain-eesl-evs-25841" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10,000 electric cars and 4,000 chargers</a></span>&nbsp;for the coal, mines, power and new and renewable energy ministries as well as for providing them on hire to other government departments.</p>
<p>Even though the intent of the government to push towards adoption of EVs has been mentioned several times, demand for EVs due to comparative higher-costs and lack of charging stations and infrastructure has been lukewarm.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[The e-rickshaws have been manufactured in India and are fitted with GPS and tracking system.
SmartE established strategic partnerships with the Haryana government (HSIIDC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to launch 1,000 vehicles in Gurugram and Faridabad in 2017.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/948/58948/e-rickshaws-1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/948/58948/e-rickshaws-1.jpg&h=485&w=73526059https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/gurgaon-500-rickshaws-smarte-brand-26059
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/gurgaon-500-rickshaws-smarte-brand-26059Wed, 06 Sep 2017 11:21:00Rane (Madras) records Rs 1,219 crore turnover in FY2017, up 37%<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/063/55063/auto-expo-2016-1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><div>
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<p><em>Steering, suspension and die-cast parts supplier attributes growth to strong domestic market demand from PV and CV segments, growing export orders and stringent cost control measures.</em></p>
<p>Chennai-based steering, suspension components and die-casting products manufacturer Rane (Madras) has announced its standalone and consolidated financial results for FY2017.</p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s consolidated revenues for the last fiscal were Rs 1,219 crore with EBITDA Rs 100.46 crore (EBITDA margin of 8.2%) for FY2017 compared to Rs 891.57 crore (EBITDA margin of 9%) in FY2016, an increase of 37 percent. Standalone profit stood at Rs 1,005 crore compared to Rs 862.49 crore, a YoY increase of 17 percent.</p>
<p>The company attributes its strong consolidated growth to burgeoning domestic market demand from the passenger car and commercial vehicle segment for its steering and linkage products; new export business&nbsp; for steering and die-cast components and stringent cost control measures that helped offset the impact of cost escalation. The company says it has been successful in improving the operational performance for its overseas subsidiary, Rane Precision Die Casting Inc.</p>
<p>Commenting on the company&rsquo;s FY2017 performance, L Ganesh, chairman, Rane Group, said: &ldquo;We are pleased with the performance of Rane (Madras) in FY2017. The turnaround of operational performance of Rane Precision Die Casting is progressing well. After facing initial delivery issues and higher rejections, the new die-casting plant in Hyderabad is now stabilising. We continue to pursue new customers in Europe and the US for steering and die-cast components and focus on improving operational efficiency across various parts of our business.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s Board of Directors elected Harish Lakshman as vice-chairman effective May 16, 2017. Lakshman has been on the Board as a director since 2004. &nbsp;</p>
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<div>&nbsp;Also read -&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/features/rane-madras-gears-phase-growth-21407">http://www.autocarpro.in/features/rane-madras-gears-phase-growth-21407</a></div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div><![CDATA[Steering, suspension and die-cast parts supplier attributes growth to strong domestic market demand from PV and CV segments, growing export orders and stringent cost control measures.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Auto Components, Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/063/55063/auto-expo-2016-1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/063/55063/auto-expo-2016-1.jpg&h=485&w=73524692https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaw-makers-charge-24692
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaw-makers-charge-24692Wed, 17 May 2017 15:58:00E-rickshaw makers get a new charge<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/043/55043/e-rickshaw-1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><em>Even as the government is looking at an ambitious programme to drive use and ownership of electric vehicles in the country, there already is a strong eco-system in place for electric rickshaws, says <strong>Mayank Dhingra.<br></strong></em><br>The third edition of the Battery Vehicle Expo and Electric Vehicle Show, which was held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi from&nbsp;<span tabindex="0" data-term="goog_395916079">March 27-29</span>, seemed to be the preserve of around 12 electric rickshaw manufacturers.</p>
<p>Inaugurated by the Minister of State for Youth Affairs &amp; Sports, Vijay Goyal, who lauded the products on display and assured continuous government support through policies like Make in India,&nbsp; the exhibition&rsquo;s focus was on mobility solutions for the public as well as private use, and particularly in the form of e-rickshaw.</p>
<p>VK Kapoor, director, Saera Electric Auto, who designed and built the first product from his garage and sold it under the now- popular Mayuri brand name, was felicitated with the Udyog Ratan Award for his role in pioneering a completely new space of future mobility for the Indian masses and also getting the first product approval from the International Centre for Automotive Testing (iCAT).&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="erickshaw" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/062/55062/erickshaw.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='erickshaw' width='370' height='370' border='0'></p>
<p>The three-day expo saw a myriad of component makers, chassis suppliers and vendors of electric motors and controllers, who supply to major brands like Galaxy, YuFeng-YC Electric and DMW which, in turn, manufacture e-rickshaws for commercial usage. While most e-rickshaw manufacturers are procuring locally made components, key components like the motor, controller and the rear differential axle continue to be imported from China due to their high investment costs for&nbsp;localisation.</p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong>OK PLAY'S E-RAAJA MAKES AN IMPACT</strong></span></p>
<p>Apart from the pool of small players, the expo also saw one of the bigger names, OK Play India.&nbsp;This Haryana-based company launched its e-Raaja brand and displayed a total of seven products, mostly commercial e-vehicles. The products ranged from highly innovative applications of the e-rickshaw, including iterations like e-vending carts, e-garbage collectors, e-loaders, e-mobile shops as well as e-rickshaws which have been designed specifically keeping women entrepreneurs in mind. Also on show was an electric two-wheeler range, which is currently in its validation phase. Its e-scooters are currently being tested at the regulatory agency.</p>
<p>The complete range is based on an in-house platform, which is driven by a 48V, 900W motor and sees use of a stack of four lead-acid batteries of 12V and 100Ah capacity each. OK Play India claims a travel range of 100-120 kilometres on single full charge, which takes around 8-9 hours.</p>
<p>While the plastic-bodied e-Raaja e-rickshaws have a passenger carrying payload capacity of 700kg, the cargo models have a payload capacity of 350kg.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="erickshaw2-edited" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/054/55054/erickshaw2-edited.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='erickshaw2-edited' width='540' height='334' border='0'></p>
<p>OK Play currently produces these green vehicles at eight&nbsp; locations across India, with its partner factories located at Ahmednagar, Surat, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ranipet and Kurukshetra, apart from two of its own plastic units at Sohna, in Haryana and the second in Chennai. Current production levels stand at 1,000 units per shift, per plant, with the number projected to rise in the coming months. The company has an ambitious manufacturing target of 240,000 units per annum. The company will be officially introducing its products in the Indian market this month. Most of the e-rickshaws are expected to be in the Rs 100,000-135,000 range, ex-showroom Delhi.</p>
<p><br>OK Play, which has been test marketing its products, currently has dealers in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha and Rajasthan. It says it will now be working towards ramping up production and also increase the number of outlets to around 1,500 by end-FY2017. The company is also eyeing exporting its products to markets like Africa in the future.While some state governments offer subsidies to the end consumer for e-vehicles, like the Rs 30,000 benefit by the Delhi government, the company is optimistic about of some aid also coming across to the OEs from the Central government in future.</p>
<p>Overall, given the sizeable number of e-vehicle and components on display at the show, it's clear the e-vehicle industry is alive and kicking.</p>
<p><strong>INTERVIEW&nbsp;VK KAPOOR, DIRECTOR, SAERA ELECTRIC AUTO</strong></p>
<p><img alt="interview" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/061/55061/interview.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='interview' width='540' height='334' border='0'></p>
<p>Considered to be the father of the e-rickshaw in India, the director of Saera Electric Auto, VK Kapoor, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, works out of a fully established manufacturing facility in Bhiwadi, Haryana.</p>
<p><strong>What is the size of the main manufacturing plant?</strong></p>
<p>The completely systematic plant is spread across 3 acres in the Bhiwadi district of Haryana. It produces e-rickshaws on a proper conveyor belt set-up and an in-house paint shop. There is a 175-member team in place, including 12 engineers in the R&amp;D division.</p>
<p><strong>Which is the best-selling Mayuri model and how is your distribution functioning?</strong></p>
<p>The Mayuri-Pro currently tops the charts for us. It is a beautifully designed e-rickshaw, which has a front glass, roof guard, reverse hooter, as well as a front guard. It has a 1,000W motor, which gets powered by a stack of four lead-acid batteries, each rated at 12V and 100 Amperes. The vehicle is being sold all across the country through our 100 outlets, which are going to be increased to 500 within the next six months to a year.</p>
<p><strong>What technological advancements do you see coming up in the e-rickshaw space in the future?</strong></p>
<p>The rickshaws are evolving constantly and the R&amp;D team is putting its efforts at creating more innovations into this area, some of which include integration of solar cells on roofs as well as use of li-ion batteries, both of which would further enhance the overall range and lifespan of these vehicles.</p>
<p><strong>When will these features make their way into these vehicles?</strong></p>
<p>The technology is ready. We are now working upon nullifying any major cost impacts that this implementation could bring in. So, a possible introduction in the next one year is what I am looking at.</p>
<p><strong>How do you view the government&rsquo;s support to the e-vehicle industry?</strong></p>
<p>To be honest, the government&rsquo;s role in this area has rhetorically been that of a speedbreaker, rather than that of being a hand-holder, which it should likely have been. There still are a lot of glitches when it comes to the grant of various approvals and&nbsp;a lot of time gets wasted in the process.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Even as the government is looking at an ambitious programme to drive use and ownership of electric vehicles in the country, there already is a strong eco-system in place for electric rickshaws, says Mayank Dhingra.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/043/55043/e-rickshaw-1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/043/55043/e-rickshaw-1.jpg&h=485&w=73524691https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaw-makers-charge-24691
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaw-makers-charge-24691Wed, 17 May 2017 15:37:00Bajaj Auto refutes charges levelled by Union, refuses to reinstate 8 Chakan plant workers<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/393/50393/web-chakan-veh-assly-3.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Pune-based motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj Auto has refuted the charges levelled by one of its employee unions, Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana (VKKS), which has called for a hunger strike on January 7-8, 2017.</strong></p>
<p>The key reason cited by the worker union is that the company management has declared a unilateral wage rise at the Chakan Plant and is pressurising it to accept the wage-rise declared, by adopting pressure tactics like transfer of workmen from the Chakan facility to other plants and giving false show cause notices. The pending issue of 8 workmen dismissed from services in 2013 is mentioned as one of the reasons.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a press statement issued earlier today, Kailash J Zanzari, senior VP (Manufacturing), Bajaj Auto, says, &ldquo;The facts are contrary. The management was very proactive in its approach and had started the process of review from February 2016 itself.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The management had given various proposals to the union, for the salary/ wage increase and negotiations were about to conclude. However, to our surprise, the union put forth an unreasonable and unrealistic demand of reinstatement of the workers of the Chakan plant, who were dismissed in 2013-14 for committing various acts of misconduct and whose cases are pending for adjudication before the court. The court has also not given any Interim relief in these cases,&rdquo; he added.</p>
<p>Bajaj Auto says the workers were given a salary hike &ndash; ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,500 for a three-year period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2019 &ndash; ahead of the festival season in October 2016 and arrears for the April-September 2016 period paid immediately.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;As regards transfer and/or deputation of workmen to different plants, Bajaj Auto says this is &ldquo;a regular practice, on the basis of requirement of skills and need at other plants.&nbsp;In the present context, the union has filed four cases in the court challenging the transfer/ deputation of workmen from Chakan to other plants. Bajaj Auto says, in three cases, the Industrial Court, Pune, in its interim order, has held that the company has every right to transfer employees from one plant to other plants.</p>
<p>The company says, &ldquo;VKKS leadership is always unreasonable and raises unrelated demands. During the last wage review,&nbsp; which was due from April 2013, the union had come up with a similar unrealistic demand of allotment of shares to workmen and resorted to a strike which lasted for 50 days causing huge financial losses to the workmen and ultimately realised their mistake and came back to work unconditionally. This time, it is the demand for reinstatement of dismissed workmen.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The union should not raise the issues which are in fact non-existent and extend full support in growth and development of the company rather than creating unnecessary hindrances in the smooth functioning of the company.&rdquo;</p><![CDATA[Company flays Vishwa Kalyan Kamgar Sanghatana which is calling for the workers, dismissed for acts of misconduct, to be reinstated.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/393/50393/web-chakan-veh-assly-3.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/393/50393/web-chakan-veh-assly-3.jpg&h=485&w=73523172https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-refutes-charges-levelled-union-refuses-reinstate-chakan-plant-workers-23172
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-refutes-charges-levelled-union-refuses-reinstate-chakan-plant-workers-23172Fri, 06 Jan 2017 18:28:46Lohia Auto showcases solar-powered e-rickshaw at EVExpo 2016<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/013/50013/001-1.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Lohia Auto Industries&nbsp;showcased its new range of electric vehicles at the recently concluded EVExpo 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.</strong></p>
<p>The company showcased its Humrahi solar-powered e-rickshaw and Narain hydraulic tipper e-rickshaw. Apart from these two, Lohia Auto also displayed the first electric three-wheeler auto designed and developed as a futuristic mode of local travelling. The new modified versions of &lsquo;Humrahi&rsquo; and &lsquo;Narain&rsquo; are improved and customised vehicles designed especially for saving electricity.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 577px;"><img alt="002" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/015/50015/002.JPG&h=485&w=735" title='002' width='577' height='379'></div>
<p>&ldquo;A normal battery rickshaw has to use conventional form of electricity to charge the batteries. With the solar e-rickshaw, one can charge batteries on the run in sunny day. Solar powered e-rickshaw increases the efficiency of the vehicle and solar panel&nbsp;increases its mileage by 10-15% with a life cycle of 10 years,&rdquo; said Lohia Auto in an official statement.</p>
<p>Further, the Narain hydraulic tipper e-rickshaw comes with a payload capacity of 350kg. It comes with a hydraulic system to unload the materials. The utility electric vehicle is designed for delivery and garbage collection.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 510px;"><img alt="003" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/014/50014/003.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='003' width='510' height='380'></div>
<p>Commenting on the unveiling of new range of e-rickshaw, Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto Industries said, &ldquo;We have showcased the innovative model of Narain as Hydraulic Tipper and Humrahi with Solar Panel. We are committed to our vision to provide green mobility to the country and look forward to consistent innovation towards developing products for the Indian electric vehicles market. Given the urgent need to combat rising pollution levels in India&rsquo;s big cities, we have also showcased India&rsquo;s first electric three-wheeler auto. So far, three wheelers either run on diesel or compressed natural gas. The shift to e-three wheelers will go a long way in curbing emission of harmful gases. The three-wheeler comes equipped with 5.7 KW motor and has the capacity to seat three passengers. With the pollution levels growing at an alarming rate, restorative steps in the form of electric vehicles are the need of the hour.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The company has also showcased its first lithium ion battery electric two wheeler &lsquo;Oma Star Li&rsquo;. Lohia claims the charging time of the model will be less than three hours compare to other eclectic Scotty charging time which is 6 to 7 hours. The company has also claimed the battery life cycle to be more than 1,000 cycles.</p><![CDATA[The company showcased its Humrahi solar-powered e-rickshaw and Narain hydraulic tipper e-rickshaw and its first electric three-wheeler auto designed and developed as a futuristic mode of local travelling.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/013/50013/001-1.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/013/50013/001-1.JPG&h=485&w=73523051https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-showcases-solar-powered-rickshaw-evexpo-2016-23051
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-showcases-solar-powered-rickshaw-evexpo-2016-23051Mon, 26 Dec 2016 14:16:38TVS Motor’s net profit up 33% in Q2-FY2017<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/774/47774/logo-tvs-2.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Strong motorcycle sales have helped TVS Motor Company report a net profit (PAT) of Rs 177.93 crore in the quarter ended September 2016, as against Rs 132.96 crore in the same period last year, up 33.4% year-on-year (YoY).</strong></p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s revenue increased by 20.6% to Rs 3,726.31 crore for Q2-FY2017 as against Rs 3,089.42 crore in Q2-FY2016. The automaker&rsquo;s Profit Before Tax (PBT) registered a growth of 31.1% to Rs 234.04 crores in the reported quarter as against Rs 178.46 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s overall two-wheeler sales for Q2-FY2017, including exports grew by 23.1% to 7.95 lakh units as against 6.46 lakh units sold in Q2-FY2016. Motorcycles sales grew by 30.2% to 3.32 lakh units in the second quarter of 2016-17 as against 2.55 lakh units registered in the second quarter of 2015-16. Scooter sales increased to 2.29 lakh units in Q2-FY2017 as against 2.18 lakh units in Q2-Fy2016 registering a growth of 5%.</p>
<p>The company exported 1.12 lakh units of two- and three-wheelers in the quarter under review as against 1.27 lakh units in the second quarter of 2015-16. Three-wheelers sales went down to 20,401 units in the quarter under review as against 32,922 units in the second quarter of 2015-16.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Half-yearly results</strong></p>
<p>In the half year ended September 2016, the company&rsquo;s net profit went up by 28.1% to Rs 298.64 crore as against Rs 233.04 crores registered in the half-year ended September 2015.</p>
<p>The total revenue grew by 16.8% to Rs 6,874.49 crore as against Rs 5,887.60 crores in the half-year ended September 2015.&nbsp;The Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 27.9% to Rs 394.86 crores as against Rs 308.81 crores recorded in the half-year ended September 2015.</p>
<p>The total two-wheeler sales of the company for the half-year ended September 2016 grew by 19.3% to 14.96 lakh units as against 12.54 lakh units recorded in the half-year ended September 2015.</p>
<p>Scooter sales grew by 11.2% in H1-FY2017 to 4.26 lakh units as against 3.83 lakh units in H1-FY2016.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Sales of motorcycle during H1-FY2017 grew by 20.6% to 6.15 lakh units as against 5.10 lakh units in H1-FY2016.&nbsp; Two- and three-wheeler exports of the company registered sales of 2.16 lakh units in the half-year ended September 2016 as against 2.46 lakh units in the same period last year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Three-wheeler sales continued to go down to 37,738 units in H1-FY2017 as against 63,151 units in H1-FY2016.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read: <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-21-increase-net-profit-q1-fy2016-21121"><em>TVS Motor Co reports 21% increase in net profit for Q1 FY2016-17</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[Strong motorcycle sales have helped TVS Motor report a net profit of Rs 177.93 crore in Q2-FY2017 as against Rs 132.96 crore in the same period last year, up 33.4% YoY.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/774/47774/logo-tvs-2.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/774/47774/logo-tvs-2.JPG&h=485&w=73522333https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-net-profit-q2-fy2017-22333
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-net-profit-q2-fy2017-22333Fri, 28 Oct 2016 12:40:02'Safety is a matter of less being more. Smaller, lighter, slower vehicles are intrinsically benign.'<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/757/46757/web-dsc1401.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><em>In this exclusive interview, <strong>Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto</strong>, speaks to Hormazd Sorabjee on the move from three- to four-wheelers but still being anti-car, solving personal intra-city travel pains, issues of safety and the quadricycle controversy.</em></p>
<p><strong>Bajaj Auto is a two- and three-wheeler manufacturer. What made you look at quadricycles?</strong></p>
<p>We believe conventional cars are too big, heavy and fast for most personal intra-city travels. This leads to pollution, congestion, and safety concerns that burden the globe. As the world&rsquo;s premier three-wheeler maker, we felt Bajaj Auto had the ideal mix of expertise and cost control to offer a perfect alternative through our small, light and speed-restricted Qute.</p>
<p><strong>It is alleged that in the early 2000s, Bajaj Auto was against Tata Motors and TVS developing quadricycles. How do you justify opposing the concept then and embracing it wholeheartedly now?</strong></p>
<p>Any such assumption or allegation is entirely fallacious. First, I am not the prime minister of India, neither is Bajaj Auto the ministry of industry. How exactly then did we stand in anyone&rsquo;s way? Did we hold a gun to their head? Did we bribe someone influential? Did we sabotage their facilities? Also, Tata and TVS are competition, so other than media reports and informal conversations how was I privy to any of their quadricycle plans?</p>
<p>When Bajaj wished to make the Qute, we simply went ahead. Why didn&rsquo;t others do the same? Are they suggesting that they sought my approval? I thought we lived in free markets where the law frowned upon cartels. In hindsight, it appears to me that Tata had a very different approach from ours. In the Nano, it intended to make the world&rsquo;s cheapest car, while in the Qute we conceived the world&rsquo;s most sophisticated four-wheeler. The two ideas have nothing in common.</p>
<p>As for TVS, if they&rsquo;re suggesting that they didn&rsquo;t make a quadricycle in deference to our wishes, I thank them for their consideration and request that they consider extending me that courtesy with bikes and three-wheelers too. It&rsquo;s all too easy to blame someone else for your own lack of courage and imagination.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="web-ppc-0581" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/760/46760/web-ppc-0581.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='web-ppc-0581' width='580' height='358' border='0'></div>
<p><strong>What&rsquo;s your view on the opposition the Qute is facing which has prompted you to launch the #FreetheQute campaign? Is it having the desired effect?</strong></p>
<p>It&rsquo;s well known that one competitor has leveraged the pathetic pace of law in India to delay the Qute&rsquo;s launch in this market. Frankly, we are happy exporting to the rest of the world. Pakistan, for instance, is a large bike market that Bajaj cannot address due to political issues, but it&rsquo;s a big world out there. We focus on most markets that are accessible to the Qute and don&rsquo;t worry about the odd one or two that aren&rsquo;t for the moment. I believe it will all fall in place in due course.</p>
<p><strong>Do you think there&rsquo;s a bit of tit-for-tat with some of the opposition you are facing now?</strong></p>
<p>Ask them!</p>
<p><strong>How do you see the Qute panning out as an alternative to a rickshaw? Will it really be one or will the Qute and rickshaw co-exist in the future?</strong></p>
<p>In principle, any large market segment ought to be characterised by at least a three-tier structure. Hence, I believe the Qute and three-wheelers will happily co-exist as each represents a distinct point of performance and affordability even if it is used largely for the same purpose.</p>
<p><strong>Safety standards for quadricycles have always been a prickly issue. How do you counter the perception that it&rsquo;s not as safe as a car?</strong></p>
<p>It&rsquo;s my unwavering conviction that safety is a matter of less being more. Smaller, lighter, slower vehicles are intrinsically benign. All the airbags and crash protection built into increasingly big, heavy, fast cars are of little help to anyone other than to the occupants, if at all. What about the safety of all the pedestrians, cyclists, scooterists, bikers and three-wheeler passengers that such cars regularly maul? We need to take a more holistic view of safety if we are to shed our dubious distinction of being the road fatalities&rsquo; capital of the world.</p>
<p><strong>There are talks of the Qute being a backdoor entry into cars. Will you consider getting into the passenger car space in the future? Will there be a Qute for private buyers?</strong></p>
<p>Bajaj&rsquo;s position in the market is that of an anti-car company. We exist to provide superior alternatives to cars through our bikes, three-wheelers, and quadricycles. We can&rsquo;t run with the hares and hunt with the hounds as it wouldn&rsquo;t be credible to anyone outside or inside the company.</p>
<p><strong>Was it easy or a natural progression going from three-wheelers to four-wheelers?</strong></p>
<p>Absolutely. Putting the fourth wheel on a three-wheeler to make it better is akin to putting an additional blade on a shaving cartridge for the same purpose.</p>
<p><strong>Aren&rsquo;t the dynamics and nuances of developing a four-wheeler with a steering wheel quite different?</strong></p>
<p>No two products are ever the same even if they have the same number of wheels. However, the principles of physics are entirely valid across categories. So, while three-wheelers and quadricycles are similar in the design lab and on the assembly line, they&rsquo;re very different in the mind of the customer and on the road. Jack Trout (marketing guru) taught us that products are built in the factory, and brands are created in the mind. So, in real terms, they&rsquo;re the same, but the perception is different. And perception trumps reality in business, perhaps in life too.</p>
<p><em>This interview has been published in the October 2016 issue of Autocar India</em></p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read:<em>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-registers-record-sales-230-502-units-september-2016-21996">Bajaj Auto registers record sales of 230,502 units in September 2016</a></em></strong></p><![CDATA[Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, speaks to Hormazd Sorabjee on the move from three- to four-wheelers but still being anti-car, solving personal intra-city travel pains, issues of safety and the quadricycle controversy.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Passenger Vehicles, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/757/46757/web-dsc1401.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/757/46757/web-dsc1401.jpg&h=485&w=73522003https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-safety-matter-lighter-slower-vehicles-intrinsically-benign-22003
https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-safety-matter-lighter-slower-vehicles-intrinsically-benign-22003Mon, 03 Oct 2016 17:38:00E-rickshaws and e-carts freed from permit requirements<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/381/45381/erickshaw-l20160405791512415-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a gazette notification today that serves to free e-rickshaws and e-carts from permit requirements.</strong></p>
<p>According to the notification, the provisions of the sub-section (1) of section 66 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 will not apply to e-carts and e-rickshaws (as defined in section 2A of the said Act) that are used for carrying goods or passengers with personal luggage.</p>
<p>This means that vehicles that are registered as e-carts or e-rickshaws will not require any permits. State governments can, however, impose restrictions under appropriate traffic laws on plying of these vehicles in specific areas or specific roads.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It is to be noted that the past year has seen a number of manufacturers roll out green and clean electric vehicles in India. In a bid to capture the local market, &nbsp;Indian and global manufacturers have been pushing their most eco-friendly solutions over the past few months &ndash; be it <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/24bKcv3">Terra Motors</a></strong></span>, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/25Id5Cv">Clean Motion</a></strong></span> or <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/2cdJcnZ">Kinetic Green Energy and Power</a></strong></span>.</p>
<p>Earlier this year in April,&nbsp;<span><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaws-charge-delhi-ncr-11060"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>prime minister Narendra Modi distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws</strong></span></a> at an event organised by the Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) programme under the Mudra Yojna Scheme in Noida.</span></p>
<p><span><span>Under the program, the 5,100 e-rickshaws were slotted for distribution in the Delhi-NCR area, including Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Customers were allowed to book e-rickshaws through the Ola mobile app and make an online payment via Freecharge which was integrated into the scheme under the Digital India initiative.</span></span></p><![CDATA[The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a gazette notification today that serves to free e-rickshaws and e-carts from permit requirements.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelers, Industryhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/381/45381/erickshaw-l20160405791512415-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/381/45381/erickshaw-l20160405791512415-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=73521546https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaws-carts-freed-permit-requirements-21546
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaws-carts-freed-permit-requirements-21546Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:12:00Bajaj Auto posts industry leading EBIDTA of 21.2% for Q1 FY2017<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/967/43967/corporate-01-copy.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Bajaj Auto, India&rsquo;s second-largest motorcycle manufacturer, has declared an industry leading operating EBIDTA margin (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of 21.2 percent for the first quarter of ongoing fiscal (Q1 FY2017). The company&rsquo;s EBIDTA margins stood at 21.1 percent for Q1 FY2016.</strong></p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s total turnover for Q1 FY2017 stood at Rs 6,356 crore as against Rs 6,188 crore recorded for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Interestingly, this is despite the overall decline in two-wheeler exports.</p>
<p>The standalone profit after tax stands at Rs 978 crore for the three-month period this year as compared to Rs 957 crore for Q1 FY2016.</p>
<p>Bajaj Auto registered total sales (including domestic and exports sales of two-wheelers and commercial vehicles) of 994,733 units for Q1 FY2017, which is marginally down by close to 2 percent YoY.</p>
<p>While the domestic business for the first quarter has flourished by 16 percent YoY including the sales of motorcycles and CVs, the export business has dropped by 22 percent YoY for the same period.</p>
<p>The company sold 548,880 motorcycles and 75,204 CVs during Q1 this year thereby recording growth of 13 percent and 48 percent YoY respectively.</p>
<p>On the export front, it despatched 323,660 motorcycles and 46,989 CVs during the same period, thus registering a YoY decline of 17 percent and 46 percent respectively.</p>
<p>With numbers from the domestic market taking the charge, Bajaj Auto claims to have improved its market share in the local motorcycle segment to 19 percent during Q1 FY2017. This can be attributed to the success of its last two product launches &ndash; the 150cc V15 and the 150cc and 220cc Avenger models.</p>
<p>According to the company, while it has sold close to 82,000 units of the V15 commuter motorcycle, the Avenger line-up has contributed well with its sales of more than 56,000 units during Q1 FY2017.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Pulsar and Avenger combined recorded a growth of 20 percent while the segment growth for the industry was 13 percent. KTM recorded a growth of 23 percent,&rdquo; quotes an official press note from the company.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff0000;"><strong>Commercial Vehicle business</strong></p>
<p>With the growth in its CV business in the domestic market, Bajaj Auto claims that its market share in the same has improved from 47 percent in FY2016 to 54 percent in Q1 FY2017. It says that this growth can be attributed to the gains in the diesel small CV segment.</p>
<p>For its international business, Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s average INR realisation per USD for Q1 FY2017 stood at Rs 67.1 per 1 US$ as against Rs 63.9 per 1 US$ in Q1 FY2016.</p>
<p>BAIH BV, Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s Netherland-based 100 percent subsidiary, which holds 47.99 percent stake in KTM AG, has received a dividend of 2 euros per share (declared by KTM AG for CY2015) in April-June 2016 quarter.</p>
<p>Overall, including all businesses, Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) breached the Rs 1,000 crore mark by clocking Rs 1,040 crore for Q1 FY2017 as against Rs 914 crore for the same period last fiscal.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read: <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-records-pat-rs-652-crore-fy2016-yoy-20063"><em>Bajaj Auto's FY2016 results</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[The standalone profit after tax stands at Rs 978 crore for the three-month period this year as compared to Rs 957 crore for Q1 FY2016.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAmit Panday Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/967/43967/corporate-01-copy.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/967/43967/corporate-01-copy.jpg&h=485&w=73521134https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-posts-industry-leading-ebidta-212-q1-fy2017-21134
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-posts-industry-leading-ebidta-212-q1-fy2017-21134Wed, 27 Jul 2016 16:27:07TVS Motor Co reports 21% increase in net profit for Q1 FY2016-17<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/925/43925/tvs-factory-32147-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Banking on strong two-wheeler, TVS Motor Company reported a net profit (PAT) of Rs 121.25 crore in the quarter ended June 2016 as against Rs 100.08 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, up 21% year-on-year (YoY).</strong></p>
<p>The company reported total revenue of Rs 2,880.94 crore as against Rs 2,574.09 crore in Q1-FY2017 (up 12% YoY). The automaker&rsquo;s Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew 23% to Rs 160.82 crore from Rs 130.35 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.&nbsp;</p>
<p>During the quarter ended June 2016, the overall two-wheeler sales of TVS, including exports grew 15.3% to 7.01 lakh units in the quarter ended June 2016 from 6.08 lakh units registered in the same quarter last fiscal. Motorcycles sales grew by 11% to 2.83 lakh units in the first quarter of 2016-17 from 2.55 lakh units registered in the first quarter of 2015-16. Scooter sales increased to 1.96 lakh units in the first quarter of 2016-17 from 1.65 lakh units in the first quarter of 2015-16 registering a growth of 19%.</p>
<p>The company exported 0.89 lakh units of two-wheelers in the quarter under review as against 0.92 lakh units in the first quarter of 2015-16. On the flip side, three-wheelers sales dwindled to 17,337 units in the quarter under review as against 30,229 units in the first quarter of 2015-16.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-q4-profit-rises-rs-118-crore-17134"><em>TVS Motor&rsquo;s Q4-FY2016 profit rises 30% to Rs 118 crore</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[The company reported total revenue of Rs 2,880.94 crore as against Rs 2,574.09 crore in Q1-FY2017 (up 12% YoY), while PBT grew 23% to Rs 160.82 crore from Rs 130.35 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/925/43925/tvs-factory-32147-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/925/43925/tvs-factory-32147-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=73521121https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-21-increase-net-profit-q1-fy2016-21121
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-21-increase-net-profit-q1-fy2016-21121Tue, 26 Jul 2016 15:31:00Lohia Auto and IndusInd bank sign MOU for three-wheeler retail finance<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/095/41095/img-1423.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Lohia Auto Industries, the automobile division of Lohia Global, today announced IndusInd Bank as its preferred financier for financing their diesel three-wheelers. Through the partnership, IndusInd bank will offer retail finance and loan facilities at competitive interest rates to the customers of Lohia three-wheeler models.</p>
<p>The loan facility will be available in almost in every part of the country namely Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, AP, R&amp;T and Coastal Andhra.</p>
<p>Commenting on the partnership, Ayush Lohia, MD &amp; CEO, Lohia Auto Industries said, &ldquo;A huge segment of customers will benefit from this alliance. This partnership will also help both the Lohia Auto and IndusInd Bank in increasing the number of customers, thus enabling widening of the market for the products.&rdquo;</p>
<p>SV Parthasarathy, senior executive vice president &amp; head - Consumer Finance Division, IndusInd Bank also commented, &ldquo;This alliance is part of our strategy to continue to be a leading player in the field of three wheeler financing. We will offer retail finance at an attractive rate of interest to customers through our large branch network.&rdquo;</p><![CDATA[The loan facility will be available in almost in every part of the country namely Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, AP, R&T and Coastal Andhra.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/095/41095/img-1423.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/095/41095/img-1423.jpg&h=485&w=73520115https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-indusind-bank-sign-mou-wheeler-retail-finance-20115
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-indusind-bank-sign-mou-wheeler-retail-finance-20115Thu, 26 May 2016 17:39:06Bajaj Auto records PAT of Rs 3,652 crore in FY2016, up 30% YoY<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/006/41006/bajaj-chakan.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Domestic two- and three-wheeler manufacturer, Baja Auto, today announced its financial results for Q4 and FY2016. The company posted its highest ever profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3,652 crore in FY2016, 30% more than the previous fiscal when it posted a PAT of Rs 2,814 crore.</p>
<p>Moreover, the company&rsquo;s turnover in FY2016 was Rs 23,601 crore, 6% more than the previous fiscal when it was Rs 22,194 crore.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the PAT for Q4 amounted to Rs 803 crore, up 29% than the same period last year (Rs 622 crore). For the same quarter, Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s turnover was Rs 5,536 crore, 13% more than Rs 4,894 in Q4-FY2015.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Domestic motorcycle sales</strong></p>
<p>In terms of sales, the company sold a total of 38,93,581 units in FY2016, which included 5,35,329 commercial vehicles. The company&rsquo;s Pulsar and Avenger brands posted a combined growth of 8%, helping it to improve the premium motorcycle market share to 47% in FY2016.</p>
<p>In the Super Sports segment, Bajaj-owned KTM along-with the newly launches RS200 helped the company achieve a market share of 60%, up 25 percentage points from the previous fiscal.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-plots-375cc-pulsar-rollout-diwali-20113" target="_blank">Bajaj plots 375cc Pulsar rollout before Diwali</a></em></strong></p>
<p>Bajaj&rsquo;s CT and Platina bikes further helped the company achieve a market share of 35% in the &lsquo;price segment&rsquo;. Moreover, the company&rsquo;s V15 model has also sold a total of 10,000 units since its launch earlier this year. Overall the company&rsquo;s market share in the domestic motorcycle segment for FY2016 stood at 19%.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Three-wheeler market</strong></p>
<p>Bajaj Auto recorded a growth of 9% in the domestic three wheeler market as against an industry growth of 1%. Consequently, share in the domestic market for three-wheelers improved by 300 bps, from 44% in FY15 to over 47%<strong> </strong>in FY16.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>International business</strong></p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s international motorcycle volumes fell by 4.1% to 1.46 million units while three-wheeler volumes fell by 1.6% to 280,000 units. The negative blip is mainly due to poor economic conditions and severe foreign currency constraints in some of the key importing countries.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Recommended:&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/domestic-market-bails-bajaj-auto-fy16-16887">Domestic market bails out Bajaj Auto in FY16</a></em></strong></p><![CDATA[The company’s turnover in FY2016 was Rs 23,601 crore, 6% more than the previous fiscal when it was Rs 22,194 crore.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/006/41006/bajaj-chakan.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/006/41006/bajaj-chakan.jpg&h=485&w=73520063https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-records-pat-rs-652-crore-fy2016-yoy-20063
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/bajaj-auto-records-pat-rs-652-crore-fy2016-yoy-20063Wed, 25 May 2016 15:45:00Yamaha to launch Blue Core-engined Tricity 155 in Europe<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/821/40821/tricity155-main.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Yamaha Motor Co has today announced the launch of the Tricity 155, a double-front wheel, three-wheeled commuter equipped with a 155cc liquid-cooled Blue Core engine. The Tricity 155 will be manufactured by Thai Yamaha Motor Co.</strong></p>
<p>The Tricity 155, the second LMW (Leaning Multi Wheel and a vehicle which can lean like a motorcycle)&nbsp;model to promote &lsquo;The Growing World of Personal Mobility&rsquo; (one of Yamaha&rsquo;s growth strategies), is scheduled for sale in Europe from September 2016. As a global model, the commuter will then be released for sale in Japan, around Asia, and other countries in turn.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In April 2014, Yamaha Motor launched the 125cc Tricity 125 in Thailand as the company's first commercial multi-wheel commuter. It has subsequently been released internationally including Japan and Europe. According to Yamaha, &ldquo;this model has proved popular, offering new enjoyment and cutting-edge style created through not only nimble and sporty handling, but also a sense of stability.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /><br />The Tricity 155&rsquo;s key features are a combination of the Blue Core engine and Yamaha's proprietary LMW design to achieve both greater running performance and fuel efficiency; a newly-designed frame with improved rigidity and expanded flat footboard areas to provide a more comfortable riding position; an expanded 23.5-litre underseat storage space, as well as an accessories compartment fitted with a DC power socket; a new parking brake; and LED headlights and position lights.</p>
<p>Yamaha is targeting sales of 8,500 units of the Tricity 155, which is priced at 4,499 euros (Rs 3.43 lakh) in its first full year of release.</p><![CDATA[Yamaha Motor Co has today announced the launch of the Tricity 155, a double-front wheel, three-wheeled commuter equipped with a 155cc liquid-cooled Blue Core engine. The Tricity 155 will be manufactured by Thai Yamaha Motor Co.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/821/40821/tricity155-main.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/821/40821/tricity155-main.jpg&h=485&w=73520016https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/yamaha-launch-blue-core-engined-tricity-155-europe-20016
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/yamaha-launch-blue-core-engined-tricity-155-europe-20016Mon, 23 May 2016 09:41:00Lohia Auto displays electric vehicle range at Smart City expo<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/100/40100/lohia-showcases-thier-electric-vehicles-range-at-smart-city-expo-pragati-maidan.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Lohia Auto Industries showcased its smart electric vehicle range at the ongoing Smart City expo 2016 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The company showcased an electric three-wheeler designed as a futuristic mode of local travelling within smart cities. The concept three-wheeler comes equipped with 5.7 KW motor.</p>
<p>Besides, Lohia Auto also showcased new models of electric rickshaw &amp; utility electric vehicles designed for delivery van &amp; garbage collection.&nbsp; For individual local rides, the company has showcased a lithium ion-powered electric scooter as well, christened Oma Star Li. The charging time of the scooter is less than three hours with a battery life of more than 1,000 cycles.</p>
<p>According to Ayush Lohia, CEO, Lohia Auto Industries, &ldquo;Smart Cities doesn&rsquo;t mean bricks and concrete buildings but it is the smartly integrated facilities. We at Lohia Auto industries are keen to be a stake holder in this smart city movement as smart mobility provider. Our entire electric vehicles range existing and futuristic will be designed to best fit in last mile connectivity for Smart cities. At the same time, we aim to do our bit to safeguard the environment and bring down emission of harmful fumes in the country.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[The display included an electric 3-wheeler concept, utility electric rickshaw and a lithium ion-powered scooter.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/100/40100/lohia-showcases-thier-electric-vehicles-range-at-smart-city-expo-pragati-maidan.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/100/40100/lohia-showcases-thier-electric-vehicles-range-at-smart-city-expo-pragati-maidan.JPG&h=485&w=73519780https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-displays-electric-vehicle-range-smart-city-expo-19780
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/lohia-auto-displays-electric-vehicle-range-smart-city-expo-19780Wed, 11 May 2016 18:11:32Sweden’s Clean Motion to expand operations<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/19089/zbee-2.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p class="Noparagraphstyle"><strong>The battle to roll out green and clean electric vehicles is growing in India. In a bid to capture the local market, several Indian and global manufacturers have been pushing their most eco-friendly solutions over the past few months &ndash; be it Terra Motors, Clean Motion or Kinetic Green Energy and Power.</strong></p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Not to be left out of the reckoning, in early February, <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/swedish-electric-wheeler-brand-zbee-enters-india-10443" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Sweden&rsquo;s Clean Motion had flagged off commercial operations</strong></span></a> of its electric commercial vehicle to provide last-mile connectivity in the DLF Cyberhub in Gurgaon, Haryana under an agreement with DLF.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Operational for the past month, Clean Motion is now expanding its footprint to Jaipur, Noida and Agra over the next three months based on a cluster approach. In Agra, it is tying up with five-star hotels to offer trips to the world famous Taj Mahal; in Jaipur a partnership with the Jaipur metro as well as to provide exclusive services within the walled city to decongest traffic are in the pipeline. In Noida, the company&rsquo;s association with its format partner will be extended from the DLF Mall of India to the metro station.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Come September, the Swedish firm will expand its reach to the cities of Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore through a franchisee model for which it is currently in discussions. &ldquo;In Bangalore, realty developers have approached us,&rdquo; Anil Arora, Country Head, Clean Motion India, told Autocar Professional in an exclusive interaction.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Clean Motion has so far invested over $1 million (Rs 6.3 crore) in its Indian operations and is mulling an additional investment of another $10 million (Rs 63 crore) by 2017 for expanding its pan-India penetration. The company is currently listed at the NASDAQ in Sweden and has also initiated an IPO there for raising a capital of $5 million (Rs 31.58 crore) that will be expended on its manufacturing facility at Faridabad in Haryana as well as on capital expenditure for running the Indian operations.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Apart from this, another round of fund raising will mop up another $10 million for capex requirements as the company grows in the country.&nbsp; For this it plans to access private equity through several green funds in India for which talks are underway.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 629px;"><img alt="zbee-3" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/091/19091/zbee-3.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='zbee-3' width='629' height='364'></div>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">While the company&rsquo;s Faridabad facility will feed the northern consumer demands, micro-partners will be roped in for extending the reach further into the country.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Under the agreement with DLF, Zbees will function from various retail formats in Delhi-NCR.&nbsp; But Arora says restrictions exist in operating the electric vehicle in Delhi, this related to a cap on autorickshaws. Since CNG and electric autorickshaws have been all clubbed under the same category, the existing status quo will continue until there is a clear segregation.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" style="font-size: larger; color: #006600;" align="left"><strong>Local manufacture in the offing</strong></p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Homologated by ICAT Manesar and certified by government authorities as an electric vehicle with a registered numberplate, about 100 Zbees per month are slated to be locally assembled at Faridabad but later local manufacturing is being envisaged. The Zbee is currently imported as a CKD kit from Sweden.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Thanks to a fibre reinforced plastic body, this EV is lightweight at around 270kg, which enables it to strike a balance between its light body structure and safety requirements.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">The Zbee comes with an advanced lithium ion battery and a full charge that allows it to be driven for up to 50km. It can be recharged within two hours. Subsequently, a rapid charging device will be introduced that will facilitate a recharge within 30 minutes. The company claims that three Zbees can be fitted into a single parking space, thereby saving space.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Energy efficient and environment friendly with zero emissions, the Zbee&rsquo;s operating cost is claimed to be 30 percent of that of a fossil fuel vehicle. It can seat two passengers and the driver and has a top speed of 45kph. In addition, it comes with a parking brake to prevent thefts.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">&ldquo;We all know that fossil fuel-run vehicles have contributed significantly in adding the carbon footprint and emissions in our environment. To combat this, we started developing technology which is lean, clean and safe and can be a potential alternative transport solution and this led to the Zbee,&rdquo; Goran Folkesson, CEO of Clean Motion, had said at the launch on February 10 in New Delhi.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 601px;"><img alt="zbee-1" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/090/19090/zbee-1.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='zbee-1' width='601' height='327'></div>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">The company&rsquo;s target is to achieve about 70 percent localisation of parts over the next 6-8 months so as to bring down the production cost by 2017. At present the Zbee costs Rs 5 lakh and with indigenisation the product cost is expected to come down by 50 percent within a year.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">The Faridabad production unit can roll out around 3,000-5,000 units annually and a new modern manufacturing plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5,000 units as well. The target is to set up multiple micro-factories for producing the Zbee in close proximity to its customers as it expands across the country.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">At a rough estimate, each micro factory will require an area of 500-1000 square metres and involve an investment of Rs 4 crore, producing 5,000 units annually. Franchisees will be tasked with marketing the Zbee.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">At present, many components like the windscreen and tyres are locally procured while the lithium ion battery is imported. Going forward, while battery cells will continue to be made by large Korean and Japanese companies overseas, packaging will be handled in India. These big cell manufacturers have a packaging partnership in India and over the next three months Clean Motion is looking to wrap up some agreements with them. With new developments in the lithium pack trimming 40 percent cost, 30 percent weight and upping 30 percent performance are expected to be made possible.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Interestingly, controllers of the Zbee, drawn from an American firm and manufactured in China along with the motors, could be next on the indigenisation list. &ldquo;When we localise the components in India, we want to make them global. For instance, we plan to export the locally made windscreen from India to Indonesia along with some other components. Others that cannot be made locally will continue to be imported,&rdquo; says Folkesson.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">That means that Clean Motion is developing India as a hub for its Indonesian operations while keeping a tab on quality standards. Simultaneously, it does not want to lose its global supply chain.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">It is understood that at present the Zbee is selling in small numbers in Europe while in Indonesia it will roll out soon as it has just&nbsp; received type approval and registration plates in adherence to the existing legislation.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">The Swedish firm has also been closely working with Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System in India and has inked an agreement with them for training drivers. About half of the Zbee drivers will be women who will then be recruited by Clean Motion.</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">Through the India-Sweden Joint Working Group for Smart Cities, Clean Motion is also looking to tap the potential of its Zbees in the initial 20 smart cities planned by the Union Government as part of its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles programme.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Text-Indented" align="left">As the Swedish manufacturing footprint expands in the country, so will the number of product offerings. &ldquo;We are looking at a number of product additions, maybe one will be a cargo vehicle with a payload capacity of 500kg and another a larger vehicle offering more room for passengers,&rdquo; sums up Folkesson.</p>
<p>With its Zbee e-autorickshaw, Clean Motion has evinced keen interest to be a long-term player in India. Rest only time will tell. n</p><![CDATA[Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer launched its zero-emission autorickshaw in Delhi and is also exploring the potential of cargo and larger passenger options.]]>Autocar ProfessionalShobha Mathur Technology, Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/19089/zbee-2.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/19089/zbee-2.jpg&h=485&w=73511187https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/sweden-clean-motion-expand-operations-11187
https://www.autocarpro.in/feature/sweden-clean-motion-expand-operations-11187Fri, 22 Apr 2016 01:42:00‘We intend to ramp up our production to 3,000 vehicles per month by June 2016.’<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/088/19088/dsc-0258.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><em>The <strong>Kinetic Group&rsquo;s Sulajja Firodia Motwani</strong> talks about the strategy behind the entry into the electric vehicle space and how it plans to ride the rising wave of green mobility in the country. An interview by Sumantra B Barooah.</em></p>
<p><strong>When did you first conceptualise the idea of floating Kinetic Green? What were the key drivers behind this move and how much has been the investment in this venture? </strong></p>
<p>The Kinetic Group thrives on innovative products and bringing new advanced technology to customers in India and to commercialise it for mass production. Three years ago, we identified electric and hybrid vehicles as such a potential area for a new technology that can bring comfort, convenience and savings to customers.</p>
<p>We are extremely proud to have a product like the <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-enters-electric-wheeler-market-bags-rs-400-crore-contract-govt-10214" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Kinetic Safar, our e-auto</strong></span></a>, as a torchbearer of our potential success in the field of electric vehicles. The total investments have been approximately Rs 30 crore.</p>
<p><strong>Are there any lessons from other Kinetic ventures that you have implemented in the EV business? When do you expect it to break even?</strong></p>
<p>The Kinetic Group&rsquo;s core values and expertise lies in the areas of innovation and frugal engineering. The Kinetic Luna and Kinetic Honda have been great examples of these values where new technology has been brought within the reach of middle-class Indians by Kinetic.</p>
<p>We have built further on these core values. However, new principles of asset-light manufacturing and global sourcing will give an edge to this new business of green mobility and keep our break-evens low. Further, a completely new team has been created for this business and its vast potential. The breakeven is expected in the year 2016-17, considering the large order in hand and the current production level.</p>
<p><strong>Kinetic Green has already bagged a Rs 400 crore order. Five years from now, what could be the turnover of Kinetic Green?</strong></p>
<p>The turnover of Kinetic Green by 2020-21 will be upwards of Rs 1,000 crore, comprising of various models of electric and hybrid vehicles. At present, Kinetic Green is only focusing on the three-wheeler range of battery operated vehicles (BOVs).</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 590px;"><img alt="dsc-5382" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/087/19087/dsc-5382.JPG&h=485&w=735" title='dsc-5382' width='590' height='260' border='0'></div>
<p><strong>How many vehicles have been sold by Kinetic Green so far? Apart from the 27,000 unit-strong order from Uttar Pradesh, has the company bagged any other orders? </strong></p>
<p>The total number of electric vehicles sold till now is approximately 1,200 units, comprising of 200 buggies and 1,000 Kinetic Safar e-autos.</p>
<p>Other than the Uttar Pradesh order, we have bagged a 1,000 vehicle order in Delhi from the National Schedule Castes &amp; Development Corporation as an employment scheme for SC / STs.</p>
<p><strong>The Indian EV industry is still far away from the size first projected by NEMMP. The concept of EVs hasn&rsquo;t been very well received. What is your outlook for the Indian EV industry? </strong></p>
<p>I strongly believe that the EV industry is poised for strong growth in the coming years, and the success of the e-rickshaw segment proves that if products of the required performance and pricing combination are brought to the market, there are buyers for this technology.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Internationally, there are successes like Tesla, Leaf, Prius and the large EV industry in China that also substantiates the same. Customer acceptance is increasing and with the help of suitable government policy such as VAT waivers, RTO tax waivers and subsidy as proposed by the FAME India scheme, and resultant mass production will see more and more commercially viable products in this segment. This will further catapult customer adoption and growth.</p>
<p>What is now needed for all critical inputs of technological innovations by industry is government support to help in policy inputs and charging network creation, and financing support to move together to result in wide-scale adoption of EV technology. Something similar to what happened in the solar industry in the last five years. I am bullish that the projections of five million EVs per year sale in India will be achieved soon.</p>
<p><strong>Do you feel that India can take a page or two from the EV growth story in China, or do you think these two markets are too different to share any lessons?</strong></p>
<p>I won&rsquo;t say the EV growth story will be as fast and big as China, as we lack the infrastructure of China and rural India has electricity availability problems. Hence, the growth of EVs in India is confined to metros, cities and towns. However, as opposed to China, where the EV industry grew due to government regulation forcing all two-wheelers in cities to be electric, I believe that in India the growth will come due to technological innovations by manufacturers, lower cost of technology in the coming years, and adequate government support that is being proposed.</p>
<p><strong>What, according to you, could be done to create a market for EVs in India?</strong></p>
<p>Continued government subsidy for the next few years, which will help in initial adoption of EVs by customers, and continued investment by manufacturers till such critical mass is achieved is required to create the initial market. Development of charging facilities at places like fuel pumps / fast-charging facilities all across the city, and financing support to customers of commercial electric vehicles like e-rickshaws by banks is also required.</p>
<p><strong>Various parts of the country are witnessing a growing presence of vehicles from Chinese EV OEMs, which are more affordable than, say, a Kinetic EV. How do you plan to compete with the Chinese OEMs? </strong></p>
<p>We don&rsquo;t want to compete with these Chinese low-cost EVs , but develop the market as an organised player and technology leader with a more reliable and better engineered product and better sales/service and spares experience for the customers through our Kinetic Green dealerships. We also intend to develop new products with higher technological input and innovation.</p>
<p><strong>What is the scope of growth you see for Kinetic Green? Given your group&rsquo;s legacy in the two-wheeler business, do you plan to also offer electric two-wheelers?</strong></p>
<p>Kinetic Green will focus on two business strategies &ndash; institutional sales and retail sales through a network of dealers providing sales /service and spares across India. Other than this, we plan to launch a range of products, from e-rickshaws to high-speed e-autos, both in the passenger and load carrier segments. We plan to cater to all the demands of EV segments in terms of usage and drivability.</p>
<p><strong>What is the sales ratio of Kinetic Green&rsquo;s portfolio of two- to 14-seaters? </strong></p>
<p>Ninety percent of our buggy sales comprises six- and 14-seaters , and all the rest form the remaining 10 percent.</p>
<p><strong>What is the installed production capacity of Kinetic Green&rsquo;s production facility? How much of it is being utilised currently?</strong></p>
<p>The installed capacity is of 4,000 vehicles per month and currently we are using 1,200 of the same. We intend to ramp up our production to 2,000 vehicles per month by May and 3,000 vehicles per month by June 2016.</p>
<p><strong>Lastly, the EV and the superbike businesses are the latest ventures of the Kinetic Group. What is the current status of the <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-ikaros-belgium-ink-jv-solar-energy-target-rs-600-crore-fy-5885" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kinetic-Ikaros JV</span></a>? Do you plan to expand into new areas?</strong><br> All these businesses are in the early stages and with our focus on automotive systems, green energy and superbikes, we are well poised for rapid growth in the coming years.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/interview/-lithium-ion-battery-solution-rickshaws-10220"><em>Sulajja Firodia Motwani says&nbsp;&lsquo;We will have a lithium ion battery solution for e-rickshaws within a year.&rsquo;&nbsp;</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[The Kinetic Group’s Sulajja Firodia Motwani talks about the strategy behind the entry into the electric vehicle space and how it plans to ride the rising wave of green mobility in the country.]]>Autocar ProfessionalSumantra B Barooah Three-Wheelers, Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/088/19088/dsc-0258.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/088/19088/dsc-0258.JPG&h=485&w=73511186https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-intend-ramp-production-vehicles-june-2016-11186
https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-intend-ramp-production-vehicles-june-2016-11186Fri, 22 Apr 2016 01:00:00Terra Motors to ramp up e-rickshaw exports to Africa<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/164/22164/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Japanese electric two- and three-wheeler manufacturer Terra Motors is set to ramp up the exports of its India-made e-rickshaws to Africa.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>The company plans to ship 5,000 units of e-rickshaws in the fiscal to countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan in the CBU form.</p>
<p>Terra has sold over 3,500 e-rickshaws in India and has already exported a few hundred units to Nigeria and Tanzania. It has also supplied 1,000 units to Nepal, with exports constituting about 4-5 percent of total production.</p>
<p>The company has invested $2 million (Rs 12.63 crore) in establishing its operations in India. It plans to invest another $5 million (Rs&nbsp; 31.58 crore) in expanding capacity at its Gurgaon facility and locating a second production unit in the vicinity to further ramp up production as well as existing manpower. The Gurgaon plant has a production capacity of 2,000 units a month and has so far utilised 50 percent of the capacity.</p><![CDATA[The company plans to ship 5,000 units of e-rickshaws in the fiscal to countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan in the CBU form.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/164/22164/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/164/22164/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=73514305https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/terra-motors-ramp-rickshaw-exports-africa-14305
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/terra-motors-ramp-rickshaw-exports-africa-14305Wed, 20 Apr 2016 19:37:19E-rickshaws get a new charge in Delhi-NCR<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/632/18632/erickshaw-l2016040579151.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Electric autorickshaws are gradually spreading their wings in the Delhi-NCR region. Yesterday, prime minister Narendra Modi distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws at an event organised by the Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) programme under the Mudra Yojna Scheme in Noida.</strong></p>
<p>The e-rickshaws were received by existing rickshaw owners as well as women and transgender recipients. In addition these recipients were also provided an insurance cover by the Pradhan Matri Jan Dhan Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana schemes and eight other significant schemes of the government.&nbsp;The event was also the platform for the &nbsp;launch of the &lsquo;Start Up India Stand Up India&rsquo; initiative.</p>
<p>Under this program, the 5,100 e-rickshaws are slotted for distribution in the Delhi-NCR area, including Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Customers will subsequently be able to book e-rickshaws through the Ola mobile app and make online payment via Freecharge that has been integrated into this scheme under the Digital India initiative.</p>
<p>Speaking on the occasion, BMC&rsquo;s managing director Vijay Pandey said, &ldquo;Our goal is to provide 13 schemes to the beneficiaries of e-rickshaws as well as create a three-fold increment in their income. We believe that the progression to e-rickshaws will also help contribute towards achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.&rdquo;</p>
<p>As part of this scheme, Bhartiya Micro Credit will also set up charging stations (for charging the e-rickshaw batteries) and service centres (for maintenance of e-rickshaws and batteries). Under the scheme, charging and service station will also be set up, which will help the growth of&nbsp; emergence of small and micro enterprises along with creating many opportunities for entrepreneurs.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The training of the e-rickshaw drivers has been done under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. Under this scheme, beneficiaries including 150 women drivers have been provided formal training under the NSDC certification process.</p>
<p>According to Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola, &ldquo;Economic growth, rapid urbanisation and environmental concerns are driving the need for innovative mobility solutions across the country. The transportation needs of users in smaller towns and sustainable alternatives for cycle rickshaws will be solved with the introduction of Ola e-rickshaws, which are affordable, environment-friendly and convenient. We believe this will improve the lives of countless beneficiaries over time impacting the livelihoods of driver entrepreneurs and taking us closer to our mission of mobility for a billion people.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Govind Rajan, COO, FreeCharge, added, &ldquo;FreeCharge is committed to building a cashless India by making digital payments frictionless and easily accessible to all. We are very excited to partner with Bhartiya Micro Credit to bring e-rickshaw drivers into India's Digital payment ecosystem.&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[The 5,100 e-rickshaws will ply in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Customers can book rides using the Ola mobile app and make online payments via Freecharge.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelers, Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/632/18632/erickshaw-l2016040579151.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/632/18632/erickshaw-l2016040579151.jpg&h=485&w=73511060https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaws-charge-delhi-ncr-11060
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/-rickshaws-charge-delhi-ncr-11060Wed, 06 Apr 2016 10:25:00Three-wheeler market remains flat this fiscal<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/18089/atul-auto-custom.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>At a time when the domestic commercial vehicle industry has started to recover from the prolonged slump that lasted over two years, the three-wheeler industry is struggling to maintain growth. In 2014-15, it had notched double-digit growth but it seeing tough times in 2015-16.</strong></p>
<p>Of the OEMs, Bajaj Auto, the world&rsquo;s leading three-wheeler maker, continues to dominate the domestic market with a 46.7% share. Interestingly, the company exports almost an equal number of three-wheelers what it sells in India.</p>
<p>Between April 2015-February 2016, Bajaj Auto sold 227,502 units in the domestic market, helping itself to a market share of 46.7% and growing marginally by 4.79% over the same period the previous year. It also shipped 266,072 units overseas to log in a market share of 69.9% in total exports.</p>
<p>According to the company&rsquo;s website, it exports to nearly 36 countries globally. It has an extensive&nbsp;portfolio of three-wheelers&nbsp; which are compatible with all fuels including petrol, LPG, CNG and diesel and for all categories &ndash; small, medium and big.</p>
<p>During April 2015-February 2016, other manufacturers like Piaggio Vehicles sold 147,304 units (market share: 30%), followed by Mahindra &amp; Mahindra which sold 50,331 units (market share: 10%). Rajkot-based Atul Auto sold 39,201 units (market share: 8%). While TVS Motors, which sold 14,330 units, is down 13.11% YoY (market share: 2.9%) its exports of 90,617 units give it a 12.44% growth.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Tough times in India</strong></p>
<p>During April 2015-February 2016, the overall three-wheeler segment has seen a decline of less than half a percent with total sales of 486,950 units. The passenger carrier segment, which is largest category in the segment, sold 399,803 units, registering flat growth. During the same period, the goods carrier segment fell 3.74%. Exports grew by 3 % with a total 382, 832 units shipped.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 541px;"><img alt="3w-sales" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/090/18090/3w-sales.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='3w-sales' width='541' height='311' border='0'></div>
<p>In FY2015, the three-wheeler segment grew by 10.79% with sales of 531,927 units against 480,085 units in the previous fiscal. Overall exports grew significantly by 15.44% with total shipments of 407,957 units.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>India largest market globally &nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>In its latest report rating agency ICRA says India has&nbsp;the largest three-wheeler industry with both a large domestic market as well as an export base.&nbsp;With industry volumes of 940,000 units in FY2015, India is positioned as the largest manufacturer as well as market for three-wheelers globally.</p>
<p>According to the report over the past decade (FY 2006-2015), the Indian 3W industry has witnessed a CAGR of 8.9% in unit sales driven by steadily rising exports as well as domestic demand. Within the overall industry, the domestic 3W market stood at 532,000 units in FY2015 and registered a CAGR of 4.4% over the past decade. In contrast to domestic demand, exports of 3W from India have grown at much higher pace (i.e. 20.4%) during the same period. As a result of this trend, the share of exports in 3W industry volumes has risen from 18% (in FY 2006) to almost 43% (in 10-month FY 2016).</p>
<p>This trend has been supported primarily by two factors &ndash; strong demand from international markets on the back of rising demand for last-mile connectivity (owing to lack of a well-developed public transport system) in the emerging markets in Africa and South-East Asia, and the declining trend in demand for 3W goods carriers in the domestic market due to competition from Small Commercial Vehicles (SCVs).</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Passenger carrier volume drivers</strong></p>
<p>With annual sales volumes of 432,000 units in FY2015, the passenger carrier segment accounts for almost 80% of domestic 3W industry sales. Accordingly, the growth drivers of the domestic 3W industry are majorly influenced by factors that drive demand for passenger 3Ws. Over the past decade (i.e. FY 2006-15), the passenger carrier segment has witnessed a CAGR of 8.2% driven by increasing demand for last-mile connectivity in metros and major cities; improving penetration in T 3 and 4 towns and rural areas, gradually increasing availability of funding through organised channels.</p>
<p>In urban markets, replacement demand has also been an important growth driver where an improving network of CNG fuel stations is driving replacement of older petrol or diesel-powered 3Ws with ones based on CNG. Despite the fact that usage of CNG is only mandatory in Delhi, the acceptance for CNG-based 3Ws has caught up in other cities as well primarily on back of favorable operating economics.</p>
<p>However, the cargo segment faces tough competition from small CVs and with annual sales volumes of 100,000 units in FY2015, the goods carrier segment accounts for almost one-fifth of domestic 3W industry sales. Unlike the passenger segment, which has grown steadily over the past decade, the demand for goods carriers has actually declined by 4.2% over the same period.&nbsp;While opportunities to grow in international markets remain abundant, in the recent past, the industry has also witnessed some headwinds.</p><![CDATA[During April 2015-February 2016, the overall 3-wheeler segment has seen a decline of less than half a percent with total sales of 486,950 units. The passenger carrier segment, the largest category in the segment, sold 399,803 units.]]>Autocar ProfessionalKiran Bajad Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/18089/atul-auto-custom.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/089/18089/atul-auto-custom.jpg&h=485&w=73510892https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/-wheeler-market-flat-growth-fiscal-10892
https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/-wheeler-market-flat-growth-fiscal-10892Sun, 20 Mar 2016 14:24:00TVS Motor Co sales grow 7% in February<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/213/17213/-dsc1320-2.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>TVS Motor Company has recorded a 7% growth in sales during the month of February 2016, with total sales increasing from 204,565 units recorded in the month of February 2015 to 219,467 units in the month of February 2016</strong>.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Exports take a hit</strong></p>
<p>The company's total exports stood at 34,804 units in February 2016 as against 38,725 units in the month of February 2015, down 11.26%. Continuing the decline in exports, two-wheelers stood at 27,949 units in February 2016 as against 31,001 units in February 2015, down 10.91%.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Two-Wheelers continue to grow</strong></p>
<p>Two-wheeler sales increased by 8% from 195,509 units recorded in February 2015 to 211,148 units in February 2016. Domestic two-wheeler sales grew by 11.4% with sales increasing from 164,508 units in February 2015 to 183,199 units in February 2016.</p>
<p>Further, scooter sales of the company grew by 18.2% increasing from 56,750 units in February 2015 to 67,089 units in February 2016. Motorcycles recorded 3.8% growth with sales increasing from 74,292 units in the month of February 2015 to 77,093 units in February 2016.</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Three-Wheeler numbers decline</strong></p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s three-wheelers registered sales of 8,319 units in the month of February 2016 as against 9,056 units in February 2015, down 8.85%.</p><![CDATA[Total sales increased from 204,565 units recorded in the month of February 2015 to 219,467 units in the month of February 2016.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Passenger Vehicles, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/213/17213/-dsc1320-2.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/213/17213/-dsc1320-2.JPG&h=485&w=73510658https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-sales-grow-february-10658
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-sales-grow-february-10658Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:51:18Geneva Motor Show: All-electric three-wheeler sportscar Morgan EV3 unveiled<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/180/17180/front.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>The Morgan EV3, the first all-electric series production car in the company's history, has been revealed at the Geneva motor show.</strong></p>
<p>Based on the successful three-wheeler sports car, the EV3 swaps the three-wheeler&rsquo;s 80bhp V-twin engine for a 62bhp electric motor, which is fed by a lithium battery and promises a zero-emissions range of 241 km.</p>
<p>Despite the addition of a heavy electric powertrain, the EV3 weighs less than 500kg &ndash; a significant reduction on the 525kg of the standard three-wheeler. Part of that saving is due to new lightweight carbonfibre composite body panels. Morgan says the new car can reach 100kph in less than 9sec, with a top speed of more than 145kph. In comparison, the three-wheeler reaches 100kph in 8sec, with a top speed of around 185kph.</p>
<p>The interior of the EV3 features a classic &lsquo;magneto&rsquo; switch for drive selection, a digital screen and wood, brass and polished aluminium trim.</p>
<p>A pre-production version of the EV3 was revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year, but Morgan says it is now ready to start the last stages of testing for the new car ahead of production beginning in Q4 of this year. A group of 10 customers in the UK and Holland will provide feedback for the final car.</p>
<p>Announcing the EV3, Morgan said the car &ldquo;looks at the world of zero emissions motoring from an entirely different perspective, what if an all-electric vehicle was bespoke, hand crafted and exhilarating to drive? The EV3 embraces new technology, delivers responsible driving excitement and continues to celebrate traditional British craftsmanship.&rdquo;</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 549px;"><img alt="top" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/181/17181/top.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='top' width='549' height='378' border='0'></div>
<p>Morgan&rsquo;s managing director Steve Morris said: &ldquo;The EV3 is an exciting opportunity for our customers to enjoy the unique Morgan driving experience and the joy of tailored manufacture while remaining conscientious towards the future of our planet.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Morgan says the EV3 will be priced "comparably" with the three-wheeler, which currently starts at &pound;25,950 (Rs 24.67 lakh).</p>
<p>Also on display in Geneva is a special 80th anniversary edition of Morgan&rsquo;s staple 4/4. Having been originally launched in 1936, the 4/4 is billed as the longest running production car in the world. Just 80 examples will be made, and will feature solid wheels, bespoke paintwork, a side exit sports exhaust, new exterior details and new personalization options. The prices will start at &pound;39,996 (Rs 38.02 lakh).</p><![CDATA[Morgan also celebrated its 80th anniversary with a special limited-run version of the Morgan 4/4.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/180/17180/front.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/180/17180/front.jpg&h=485&w=73510648https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/geneva-motor-electric-wheeler-sportscar-morgan-ev3-unveiled-10648
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/geneva-motor-electric-wheeler-sportscar-morgan-ev3-unveiled-10648Tue, 01 Mar 2016 12:19:00Terra Motors launches Y4Alfa e-rickshaw in India, explores bringing its e-scooter A4000i<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/765/16765/web-img-20160218-122643447-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Japanese electric two- and three-wheeler manufacturer Terra Motors has rolled out its Y4 Alfa e-rickshaw in Delhi today.</p>
<p>Priced at Rs 120,000 (ex-showroom Delhi), the e-rickshaw will be available at Terra dealerships&nbsp; from the first week of April. It is powered by the indigenously produced Terra lead acid battery which will also be sold as a replacement through Terra outlets at Rs 27,000 and with a one-year warranty. The Y4Alfa weighs 320gg with the battery weight pegged at 112kg. The e-rickshaw is 2800mm long, 940mm wide and 1,795mm tall and comes with front telescopic and rear leaf suspension.</p>
<p>The Y4Alfa is the second product from the Terra Motors stable to be launched in India after the Y4 e-rickshaw that was introduced last September. The Y4Alfa, which the company claims has a range of 100km and a maximum speed of 25km, can be fully recharged in 7 hours. The vehicle, which has a high localisation level of 95 percent, has been designed and developed in India at Terra&rsquo;s local facility and R&amp;D centre in Gurgaon in Haryana.</p>
<p>Terra Motors&rsquo; lead acid battery manufacturing facility in Bangalore has a monthly production capacity of 20,000 units. The battery has a lifespan of 18 months that the company claims reduces operational costs by a third.</p>
<p><strong>Expansion on the anvil<br /></strong>Speaking at the vehicle launch today in New Delhi, Teppei Seki, managing director of Terra Motors India, said that the company has thus far invested $2 million (Rs 12.63 crore) in establishing its operations in India. It plans to invest another $5 million (Rs&nbsp; 31.58 crore) in expanding capacity at its Gurgaon facility and locating a second production unit in the vicinity to further ramp up production as well as existing manpower. The Gurgaon plant has a production capacity of 2,000 units a month and has so far utilised 50 percent of the capacity. Plans are to ramp up further to 3,000 units per month by end-September and reach a capacity of 30,000 units for e-rickshaws and 20,000 units for batteries.&nbsp;</p>
<p>At present Terra has manpower strength of around 65 people across different streams with about 10 engineers in the R&amp;D centre. It plans to scale up the headcount to 200 by end-2016 which is also around the time when it will further beef up its dealership network to 100 from the current 30 outlets that are mostly located in northern India.</p>
<p>Till now, Terra has sold 3,500 e-rickshaws in India and exported a few hundred units to Nigeria and Tanzania. It has also supplied 1,000 units to Nepal, with exports constituting about 4-5 percent of total production. In Bangladesh it sells e-rickshaws through a manufacturing setup inked through a local joint venture.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Likely to bring its two-wheelers to India </strong>&nbsp;<br />Seki told <em>Autocar Professional </em>that Terra Motors is also working on developing a cargo model with a 500-1,000kg payload capacity and it would take about 6 months to develop it indigenously. Terra, which has a 40 percent market share in Japan for its electric models, is also mulling bringing its electric two-wheelers to India next year as part of its expansion programme. It is also exploring development of higher-capacity batteries in India. Currently the batteries are tubular and are of 100Ah 48V capacity.</p>
<p>The company had showcased its A4000i electric scooter at Auto Expo 2014. The A4000i uses a rear in-wheel motor which is powered by Terra Motors&rsquo; own lithium ion battery pack (48V/40AH) which, according to company data, lasts for 50,000km (lifetime range). Terra Motors aims at selling this model primarily in South-Asian markets (including Japan).</p>
<p>The lithium ion battery-powered A4000i, which weighs 118kg, has a maximum range of 60 kilometres and a top speed of 60kph. Recharging takes around 5 hours.</p>
<p>The electric three-wheeler space in India is currently seeing a lot of action. Recently Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, a Kinetic Group company, had rolled out its e-three wheeler called Kinetic Safar priced at Rs 1.38 lakh. And on February 10, &nbsp;Clean Motion, a Swedish company, kicked off operations of its Zbee premium e-rickshaw to provide last-mile connectivity in Gurgaon through an agreement with DLF. Introduced as a CKD, the Zbee costs Rs 5 lakh but there are plans to cut its price by 50 percent within a year through a phased localisation programme.</p>
<p>The fledgling electric vehicle industry in India is expecting some big-ticket incentives in the Union Budget 2016 on February 29. &nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Japanese electric two- and three-wheeler manufacturer Terra Motors has rolled out its Y4 Alfa e-rickshaw in Delhi today.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelers, Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/765/16765/web-img-20160218-122643447-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/765/16765/web-img-20160218-122643447-hdr.jpg&h=485&w=73510548https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-launches-y4alfa-rickshaw-india-explores-bringing-scooter-a4000i-10548
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-launches-y4alfa-rickshaw-india-explores-bringing-scooter-a4000i-10548Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:59:00Swedish electric three-wheeler brand Zbee enters India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/468/16468/right-mr.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Sweden&rsquo;s Clean Motion launched its Zbee electric commercial vehicle in India on February 10, flagging off its commercial operation this evening from DLF CyberHub in Gurgaon. As part of a cluster, 25 Zbees will provide last-mile connectivity from the CyberHub to nearby offices of DLF Cyber City and later on to the metro stations. The zero-emission Zbee is currently imported as a CKD kit.</p>
<p>Under its pact with DLF, Zbees will function from various retail formats in Delhi-NCR. Homologated by ICAT Manesar and certified by government authorities as an electric vehicle with a registered numberplate, about 100 Zbees per month will be locally assembled at Faridabad; local manufacturing is being explored at a later stage. The Zbee is currently sold in Sweden and Indonesia and India will be the third country on its radar.</p>
<p>Made from a fibre reinforced plastic body, the lightweight EV weighs around 270kg enabling it to strike a balance between its light body structure and safety requirements. The Zbee comes with an advanced lithium ion battery; a full charge allows it to be driven for upto 50km. Recharging takes an hour, says Clean Motion. Later a rapid charging device, which enables a recharge within 30 minutes,&nbsp; will be introduced. The company claims that three Zbees fit into a single parking lot. Operating cost is 30 percent of the cost of a fossil fuel vehicle. It can seat two passengers and the driver and has a top speed of 45kph. In addition, it comes with a parking brake to prevent theft.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Fossil fuel-run vehicles have contributed significantly in adding to the carbon footprint and emissions in our environment. To combat this, we started developing technology which is lean, clean and safe and can be a potential alternative transport solution. This led to the Zbee,&rdquo; says Goran Folkesson, CEO of Clean Motion.&nbsp;</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 629px;"><img alt="zbee-picture-20130313-copy" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/472/16472/zbee-picture-20130313-copy.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='zbee-picture-20130313-copy' width='629' height='329' border='0'></div>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Expanding footprints in India</strong></p>
<p>Clean Motion has so far invested over $1 million (Rs 6.3 crore) in its Indian operations and plans to invest another $10 million (Rs 63 crore) by 2017 for expanding its reach across India. An upcoming IPO to raise a capital of $5 million this April will go towards setting up a manufacturing facility for the Zbee in the vicinity of Faridabad, confirms Folkesson.</p>
<p>The target is to achieve about 70 percent localisation of parts over the next 6-8 months so as to bring down the production cost by 2017. At present the Zbee costs Rs 5 lakh and with indigenisation the product cost is expected to down by 50 percent within a year according to Anil Arora, country head of Clean Motion India.</p>
<p>The Faridabad assembly facility can roll out around 3,000-5,000 units annually and a new modern manufacturing plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5,000 units as well. The target is to set up multiple micro factories for producing the Zbee in close proximity to its customers as it expands across the country.</p>
<p>At a rough estimate, each micro factory will require an area of 500-1000 square metres and involve an investment of Rs 4 crore producing 5,000 units annually. Franchisees will be tasked with marketing the Zbee.</p>
<p>Interestingly, at present, many components like the windscreen and tyres are locally procured while the lithium ion battery will be soon indigenised by a Korean player in India. Clean Motion is then looking to locally manufacture the Zbee body in India to give a leg up to the Make in India vision.</p>
<p>Clean Motion is also closely working with Delhi&rsquo;s integrated Multi-Modal Transit System and other organisations for training drivers. About half of the Zbee drivers will be women. Through the India-Sweden Joint Working Group for Smart Cities, Clean Motion is now tapping the potential of leveraging its Zbees in the initial 20 smart cities planned by the Union government. &ldquo;We hope we can closely work with FAME &ndash;Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India &ndash; as part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan and explore the option of offering incentives on adoption of commercial EVs,&rdquo; says Arora.</p><![CDATA[About 100 Zbee commercial vehicles will be locally assembled in India at Faridabad in Haryana every month. Half of the Zbee drivers will be women.]]>Autocar ProfessionalShobha Mathur Three-Wheelers, Technologyhttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/468/16468/right-mr.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/468/16468/right-mr.JPG&h=485&w=73510443https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/swedish-electric-wheeler-brand-zbee-enters-india-10443
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/swedish-electric-wheeler-brand-zbee-enters-india-10443Wed, 10 Feb 2016 15:46:00TVS Motor reports Q3 profit of Rs 107.7 crore, up 19.4% YoY<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/972/15972/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>TVS Motor Company has reported a net profit of Rs 107.7 crore in Q3, up 19.4 percent compared to the same period last year (Rs 90.2 crore).</p>
<p>The automaker&rsquo;s revenue went up 11 percent for the quarter ended December 2015. The total revenue grew from Rs 2,639 crore in Q3-FY2015 to Rs 2,940 crore in Q3-FY2016.</p>
<p>The Profit Before Tax and before exceptional item&nbsp;grew by 25.1 percent increasing from Rs 123.7 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 to Rs 154.7 crore during Q3. The Profit Before Tax after exceptional item (PBT) grew by 20.5 percent increasing from Rs 123.7 crore in Q3-FY2015 to Rs 149 crore in Q3-FY2016.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;On account of the unseasonal heavy rains and floods, the Chennai city and neighboring districts were affected. The company reached out to 3.75 lakh customers and free service camps were conducted. All affected two-wheelers were promptly serviced in the service camps. In addition, company also contributed to the flood relief fund of the government of Tamil Nadu. The reported profits are after provision for one off expense of Rs 7.5 crore consequent to floods in Chennai and a further sum of Rs 10.6 crore was provided on account of retrospective amendment to Bonus Act. Out of this amount a sum of Rs 5.7 crore relating to 2014-15 has been shown as exceptional item,&rdquo; said the company statement.</p>
<p>The company reported total two-wheeler sales of 6.76 lakh units in Q3-FY2016, up 8 percent YoY (6.27 lakh units). This included motorcycle sales of 2.60 lakh units compared to 2.48 lakh units in the previous period, up 5 percent YoY. Scooter sales grew by 25 percent in Q3-FY2016 increasing from 1.86 lakh units in the corresponding previous period to 2.33 lakh units in the quarter under review.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, three wheeler sales in Q3-FY2016 is 26,225 units against 28,128 units sold in the corresponding quarter of previous year.</p>
<p>Further, the company exported 1.08 lakh units of two- and three-wheelers compared to 1.07 lakh units in the corresponding quarter of previous year.</p>
<p>The company&rsquo;s board also declared an interim dividend of Re 1/- per share (100 percent) absorbing a sum of Rs 55.65 crore, including dividend distribution tax for the year 2015-16.</p>
<p style="font-size: larger; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/maruti-suzuki-reports-q3-profit-rs-019-crore-27-yoy-10277"><em>Maruti Suzuki reports Q3 profit of Rs 1,019 crore, up 27% YoY</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[The automaker’s revenue went up 11 percent for the quarter ended December 2015. The total revenue grew from Rs 2,639 crore in Q3-FY2015 to Rs 2,940 crore in Q3-FY2016.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Industry, Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/972/15972/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/972/15972/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=73510282https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-q3-profit-rs-1077-crore-194-yoy-10282
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-reports-q3-profit-rs-1077-crore-194-yoy-10282Fri, 29 Jan 2016 17:25:00‘We will have a lithium ion battery solution for e-rickshaws within a year.’<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/749/15749/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green4.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><em><strong>Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO of Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions</strong>, speaks to Shobha Mathur on the <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-enters-electric-wheeler-market-bags-rs-400-crore-contract-govt-10214" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>launch of the Safar electric rickshaw</strong></span></a>, production plans and capacity expansion.&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><strong>How have you been able to bring down the cost of the e-rickshaw to Rs 128,000 compared to a conventionally fueled three-wheeler that costs around Rs 200,000? </strong></p>
<p>That is the Kinetic expertise. We are experts in frugal engineering, bringing advanced technology to the customer at an affordable price. That is in our DNA &ndash; to achieve the right price performance point, understand what the customer needs, what is the speed he requires as also the life span in terms of battery life and the load the customer needs to carry. Then, we create a product ground-up that meets the customer&rsquo;s specifications but is also affordable.&nbsp; The vehicle price is Rs 125,000, the additional price of Rs 3,000 is VAT (value added tax).</p>
<p><strong>The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently announced plans to make lithium ion batteries more affordable by collaborating with institutions like ISRO. Will you be taking a leaf from that book to power your forthcoming e-rickshaws?</strong></p>
<p>Yes that is an area where we are very keen to work in. But MoRTH is focusing more on buses run on lithium ion batteries. We are in touch with them and are looking at various ways to bring the lithium ion technology into e-rickshaws. I think within 12 months we will have a lithium ion (battery) solution.</p>
<p><strong>What was the investment in the Kinetic Safar project?</strong></p>
<p>We have, so far, invested Rs 25 crore in this project which includes the product development, launch cost, plant and equipment. This excludes the land and building for the plant which we have taken on lease from our Group company.</p>
<p><strong>What are the key products that Kinetic will be producing at the Ahmednagar plant?</strong></p>
<p>We make the entire range of buggies at the plant. We produce the Safar there and future products like the Safar Cargo will also be made there.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Since Kinetic Green has an ambitious plan to expand its manufacturing footprint across India, how much investment do you envisage going forward?</strong></p>
<p>We will have to see how the market evolves. We want to be closer to the customer; for instance, we would like to locate a plant in the East, in the North and the West so that we can quickly reach the market and reduce the logistics costs. Our mother plant will feed some of the key aggregates but the assembly can be done locally. Our installed capacity at the Ahmednagar plant is 4,000 units per month, so for the next 1.5 years we do not need to set up another plant.</p>
<p>We have not yet identified the land in these regions yet and will announce future plans in a year&rsquo;s time. Right now our focus is to expand our production to meet the Uttar Pradesh government&rsquo;s scheme requirements.</p>
<p><strong>What about plans for a ramp up of scale in the existing plant?</strong></p>
<p>We will now focus on working capital for scaling up for which we will work with different banks but we do not need any capex as we have fully invested in the product. We are looking at raising Rs 30 crore from the banks for working capital over the next few months.</p>
<p><strong>How do you propose to commercialise the e-Cargo and e-bus?</strong></p>
<p>The e-Cargo will come in the next 3-4 months. It is already under final prototype development and will go for homologation, so by June or September we will have it in the market. Buggies are E-buses or mini- buses that we are already selling across the country and have dealerships in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Patna for them. We are also looking to set up a dealer in north India. We are selling them to hotels, resorts, private farmhouses and townships.</p>
<p><strong>Delhi-NCR is popularising e-rickshaws. Are you talking to the state government for them?</strong></p>
<p>Not yet as we have started our retail focus in the north and institution-wise, we have a big order already in our hand which we have to focus on completing.</p>
<p><strong>Have other state governments also shown interest in the e-rickshaws?</strong></p>
<p>Yes, some of them have.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Where are the 15 dealerships for the Safar coming up?</strong></p>
<p>Currently our dealers have come up in Delhi, NCR, UP and Punjab. We will expand with more dealers in UP, Rajasthan, Haryana and then in the east. UP, West Bengal, Delhi, Bihar and Orissa are large markets because there is a natural pull due to the population there, the socio-economic status, and crowded cities there already have manual rickshaws where customers pay around Rs 10 for a short trip. The Safar will be a better alternative with a higher speed and at the same price.</p>
<p><strong>Will you also look at rolling out electric two-wheelers?</strong></p>
<p>Not right now, we are focused on public transport at the moment.&nbsp; We want to focus on green transport at an affordable price for the common man and mass production.</p>
<p><strong>The Safar currently has 65 percent localisation. Which are the parts that are not localised?</strong></p>
<p>Some of the parts like converters and motors are imported. We will continue to localise as we move forward.</p><![CDATA[Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO of Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, speaks on the launch of the Safar electric rickshaw, production plans and capacity expansion.]]>Autocar ProfessionalShobha Mathur Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/749/15749/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green4.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/749/15749/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green4.jpg&h=485&w=73510220https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-lithium-ion-battery-solution-rickshaws-10220
https://www.autocarpro.in/Interview/-lithium-ion-battery-solution-rickshaws-10220Fri, 22 Jan 2016 12:44:16Kinetic Green launches Safar e-three-wheeler at Rs 1.28 lakh<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/734/15734/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Giving a further fillip to the Centre&rsquo;s FAME scheme for faster adoption and manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles, Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, a Kinetic Group company rolled out its e-three wheeler called Kinetic Safar in Delhi today.</p>
<p>Even before its official launch, about 45 Safars are already plying on the national capital&rsquo;s roads. The company plans to target other states as well. Starting with 15 retail outlets drawn from existing dealers of vehicle manufacturers like Mahindra to tap their automotive experience, Kinetic Green is going all out to offer affordable green mobility solutions for public transportation.</p>
<p>The company says a Safar owner can earn Rs 20,000 per month. Kinetic is providing a 10-day training course to Safar drivers with the government relaxing the licensing norms that mandate a commercial license for driving three-wheelers. For large orders, a tie-up with training agencies is also on the cards.</p>
<p>Priced at Rs 1.28 lakh, including 12.5 percent VAT in Delhi, the Safar comes with an Exide lead acid battery and charger. With VAT varying in different states, the overall price of the Safar is likely to differ across India. The company is offering a 100,000 kilometre warranty for the Safar and six months warranty on the battery.</p>
<p>The company says the ARAI-approved Safar meets all government safety norms mandated under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules and has an all-steel body for higher durability, dual headlamps for night vision, powerful brakes, dashboard with battery indicator and speedometer. Under CMVR guidelines, the Safar has a maximum speed of 25kph, which makes it suitable for use as a shared auto-rickshaw in small cities and for last-mile connectivity in large cities.</p>
<p>The company has tied up with Videocon for insurance in Delhi and for Mahindra Finance for financing options.</p>
<p>Speaking at the Safar&rsquo;s rollout today, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO, said that existing e-rickshaws in the market are imported and assembled Chinese kits while the Safar was indigenously designed and developed with a local content of 65 percent that would be stepped up in stages. This enabled the company to offer an affordable solution while the prevailing CNG and fuel operated auto-rickshaws on the road run at higher costs. Among its key benefits, the Safar will be able to climb flyovers due to its ARAI-certified gearbox under the AIS standard for gradability. In addition the Safar comes with a glass windshield and electric wiper motor and roof. Therefore, Firodia claims, the Safar scores over e-rickshaws in terms of its engineering quality, exclusive dealer network and service backup.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our e-auto Safar is a ground-up development to bring advanced green transport technology at an affordable price of merely Rs 1.28 lakh. The buyer of Safar is expected to recover his investment in 8-9 months with an affordable ride at Rs 10 per ride.&rdquo;&nbsp; The battery of Safar can be recharged at night for 11 hours running 115km on a single charge.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>UP government order worth Rs 400 crore in the bag</strong></p>
<p>Interestingly, Kinetic Green has bagged a large institutional order for electric vehicles from the Uttar Pradesh government worth Rs 400 crore for supplying 27,000 Safar vehicles within 12 months. Won on the basis of competitive bidding, it will form part of the UP government&rsquo;s e-Rickshaw Yojana for providing free e-rickshaws to existing manual rickshaw pullers in the state. This will give them a better means of earning livelihood. Kinetic has already delivered the first 300 units of Safar and plans to step up deliveries to 3,000 units per month.</p>
<p>Currently manufactured at the company&rsquo;s Ahmednagar facility in Maharashtra which has a production capacity of 4,000 vehicles a month, plans are underway to expand the overall capacity after a year and a half when the current facility is expected to reach optimum utilisation. Also on the radar are plans to set up assembly units in north India initially, followed by other locations based on rising demand and an asset light principle.</p>
<p>Kinetic Green also makes a range of buggies from two-wheeler golf carts to 4- and 6-seaters and 14-seater e-buses to promote eco-tourism. Among future products is a plan to develop a Safar Cargo, an e-cart for low cost and green urban load distribution aimed at home deliveries and e-commerce. The company is also mulling commercialisation of a high-speed e-auto for large cities called Soleckshaw developed by group company Kinetic Engineering as well as to diversify into lithium ion batteries for e-autos.</p>
<p>Firodia says that Kinetic is initially starting with lead acid batteries that cost around Rs 20,000 and have to be replaced once a year. In comparison lithium ion batteries will cost around Rs 70,000-Rs 80,000 but will have a longer life span of about 4 years. But once economies of scale are achieved, the price will be reduced, thereby making it an affordable proposition.</p><![CDATA[Company bags Rs 400 crore order from the UP government for 27,000 e-rickshaws.]]>Autocar ProfessionalShobha Mathur Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/734/15734/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/734/15734/sulajja-firodia-motwani-ceo-kinetic-green1.jpg&h=485&w=73510214https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-enters-electric-wheeler-market-bags-rs-400-crore-contract-govt-10214
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-enters-electric-wheeler-market-bags-rs-400-crore-contract-govt-10214Thu, 21 Jan 2016 18:20:00TVS Motor posts 4% sales growth in December ‘15<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/143/15143/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Home grown two- and three-wheeler maker, TVS Motor Co, has recorded a 4% growth in sales during the month of December 2015, with total sales increasing from 194,481 units in the month of December 2014 to 202,086 units in December 2015.</p>
<p><strong>Two Wheeler</strong></p>
<p>The domestic two-wheeler sales of the company grew by 5.2% increasing from 159,918 units in December 2014 to 168,160 units in December 2015.</p>
<p>Scooters sales of the company grew by 21.4% YoY, posting sales of 65,090 units in December 2015 compared to 53,613 units sold in the same period last year. Motorcycles sales of the company increased from 70,573 units in the month of December 2014 to 71,435 units in December 2015.</p>
<p><strong>Three Wheeler</strong></p>
<p>The company registered sales of 8,020 units of three-wheelers in December 2015 as against sales of 10,007 units in December 2014.</p>
<p><strong>Exports</strong></p>
<p>The company total exports included 32,771 units in the month of December 2015 as against 32,969 units registered in the month of December 2014. Two wheeler exports grew by 5.5% with sales increasing from 24,556 units in December 2014 to 25,906 units in December 2015.&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[The total sales of the company increased from 194,481 units in December 2014 to 202,086 units in December 2015.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelers, Two-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/143/15143/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/143/15143/-dsc1320.JPG&h=485&w=73510016https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-posts-sales-growth-december-10016
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/tvs-motor-posts-sales-growth-december-10016Mon, 04 Jan 2016 11:16:34OK Play launches made-in-India e-rickshaw<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/081/15081/erickshaw-2.JPG&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>OK Play India, a plastics auto component company, has launched e-Raaja which is claimed to be the first designed, developed and manufactured e-rickshaw in the country. The ICAT-certified rickshaw, which has a plastic body, is priced at Rs 1.15 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh (including taxes). The vehicle is designed to carry four passengers plus a driver.</p>
<p>Launching the e-Raaja, Rajan Handa, MD, OK Play India, said, &ldquo;The next- generation, ICAT-approved, e-Raaja is India&rsquo;s first 100 percent indigenously designed and developed, zero emission plastic body green e-rickshaw to be manufactured in India. It is the result of more than two years of in-house R&amp;D by our dedicated research and design team. It has over 90 percent of Indian components, unlike most other e-rickshaws in the country which have about 95 percent Chinese components.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The company has a production capacity of 300,000 e-rickshaws from its two manufacturing units &ndash; one in Sohna (Haryana) to cater to North India and the other in Ranipet (Tamil Nadu) for South India. The e-Raaja is seen as OK Play&rsquo;s foray to tap the emerging Rs 50,000 crore e-rickshaw market in India.</p>
<p>Elaborating on why OK Play chose e-rickshaws as a segment to enter the automobile industry, Handa said: &ldquo;The transition was natural, as, for over 2 decades now, OK Play India has been using the roto- moulded plastics process and has the expertise to create world class, environment friendly automotive plastic products that excel in both safety, quality and durability.&nbsp;Hence, the decision to choose E-rickshaws to foray into the automobile industry was quite obvious.&rdquo;</p><![CDATA[The ICAT-certified rickshaw, which has a plastic body, is priced at Rs 1.15 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh (including taxes).]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/081/15081/erickshaw-2.JPG&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/081/15081/erickshaw-2.JPG&h=485&w=7359996https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/ok-play-launches-india-rickshaw-9996
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/ok-play-launches-india-rickshaw-9996Tue, 29 Dec 2015 15:50:15Terra Motors gets ARAI homologation for e-­rickshaw in India<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/623/10623/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Terra Motors Corporation of Japan has acquired e&shy;-rickshaw homologation certification from ARAI, India's premier automotive R&amp;D, testing and certification organisation.</p>
<p>By acquiring this certification, this company sets out the standards that are applicable in the areas of environment and safety. These standards aim at improving active and passive car safety, along with environmental protection as well as the quality of products and production processes.</p>
<p>Terra Motors believes that India is an important market for electric vehicles for the next generation and intends to invest more money this fiscal year and hire more people. According to Toru Tokushige, CEO and founder of Terra Motors, &ldquo;We aim for 30,000 units of sales of electric rickshaws, as in India by the end of this fiscal year. We have unique selling points and to get the homologation is the first step for us. Very soon we will announce our product lines.&rdquo;</p>
<p style="font-size: 2.5ex; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read: <a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-launch-electric-wheelers-india-2015-7132" target="_blank"><em>Terra Motors to launch electric three-wheelers in India</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[Terra Motors Corporation of Japan has acquired e­-rickshaw homologation certification from ARAI, India's premier automotive R&D, testing and certification organisation.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/623/10623/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/623/10623/dsc-05025406-699x380.jpg&h=485&w=7358453https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-arai-homologation-rickshaw-india-8453
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-arai-homologation-rickshaw-india-8453Wed, 20 May 2015 14:38:00Toyota seeks feedback on i-Road R&D project in Tokyo<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/419/10419/5.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>In July, Japanese carmaker Toyota will take the next step toward realising the full potential of the i-Road ultra-compact electric vehicle concept by launching the Open Road Project in Tokyo.</p>
<p>To encourage the practical, convenient and fun use of the i-Road on city streets, the company will seek creative input and feedback from both specialist companies and members of the public focusing on two key areas: finding convenient parking and encouraging customisation.</p>
<p>Two key strengths of the i-Road are its compact size and its ability to be charged from a standard 100V electrical outlet. By working with parking lot operators and commercial property owners in central Tokyo, Toyota says it will capitalise on these strengths by identifying small, unused spaces with access to plug sockets that could be utilized for i-Road parking and charging. Feedback will be collected for analysis on how to expand the parking and charging network.</p>
<p class="margintzero">Toyota aims to make the i-Road a thoroughly unique personal mobility experience by supporting the use of custom parts. Project participants will be able to express themselves by 3D-printing body parts with colors and surface designs of their choosing.</p>
<p>Toyota says it will provide 10 i-Road vehicles to a total of 100 participants &mdash; from ordinary members of the public to experts and trendsetters &mdash; for around a month each. Overall, the project will run for approximately one year.</p>
<p>Project partners will provide feedback to help Toyota improve the practicality and usability of the i-Road. This will include opinions on how the vehicle might be modified or made more viable for production.</p>
<p>Through these consumer trials, the carmaker aims to study the best ways to develop products and services that will build on the key strengths of the i-Road and open up exciting new possibilities for mobility. Rather than limiting participation to pre-selected partners, mid-project entry and the addition of new potential products and services will be actively encouraged with a view to enhancing the product appeal of the i-Road.</p>
<p style="font-size: 2.5ex; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Also read: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/toyota-road-ev-car-sharing-service-tokyo-7774"><em>Toyota&rsquo;s i-Road EV to be part of car sharing service in Tokyo</em></a></strong></p><![CDATA[Toyota aims to make the i-Road a thoroughly unique personal mobility experience by supporting the use of custom parts.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/419/10419/5.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/419/10419/5.jpg&h=485&w=7358363https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/toyota-seeks-feedback-road-project-tokyo-8363
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/toyota-seeks-feedback-road-project-tokyo-8363Thu, 07 May 2015 12:06:00Toyota’s i-Road EV to be part of car sharing service in Tokyo<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/046/9046/i-road.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Starting in April, parking lot operator Park24 Co and Toyota Motor Corporation will trial a car sharing service in central Tokyo using the Toyota i-Road, an ultra-compact three-wheeled electric vehicle.</p>
<p>The i-Road, designed for flexibility and ease of use, will be paired with Park24's &lsquo;Times Car Plus&rsquo; service, which allows members to use share cars at any time of day or night. The trial will also incorporate elements from Toyota's &lsquo;Ha:mo&rsquo; optimised urban transport system.</p>
<p>The trial is planned to run from April 10 to the end of September. Usage data and user feedback will be gathered with the goal of assessing ease of use. The trial will also be used to assess changes in user activity patterns and receptiveness to new mobility systems of this type.</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="i-road-rear" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/047/9047/i-road-rear.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='i-road-rear' width='580' height='358' border='0'></div>
<p>With a focus on one-way transportation to commercial facilities and sightseeing locations, users will pick up vehicles from the Times Station at Yurakucho ITOCiA and later return them to any of five locations: Tokyo Tower, Asakusa, Odaiba Palette Town, Tokyo Dome City or Yurakucho ITOCiA.</p>
<p>Park24 will offer the service to Times Car Plus corporate members and some individual members. An online reservation page will allow users to check availability, make reservations and sign up for compulsory i-Road training courses. The service will cost 412 yen (Rs 214) per unit of 15 minutes, with a maximum usage period of two-and-a-half hours.</p>
<p>Park24 operates a parking lot network throughout Japan, and created the Times Car Plus car sharing service to increase the convenience of public mobility. The service, which has approximately 430,000 members, offers rental of a large variety of automobiles including compact and imported vehicles.</p>
<p>Toyota has been conducting trial operations of Ha:mo, its optimised urban transport system, in Toyota City since October 2012. The system aims to relieve traffic congestion, reduce air pollution and improve mobility. Ha:mo links private and public transportation networks, and is being trialed between major railway stations and depots located at public facilities around Toyota City. The Ha:mo project was created when Toyota City was designated as a next-generation energy and social systems demonstration area by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Starting in April, parking lot operator Park24 Co and Toyota Motor Corporation will trial a car sharing service in central Tokyo using the Toyota i-Road]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/046/9046/i-road.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/046/9046/i-road.jpg&h=485&w=7357774https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/toyota-road-ev-car-sharing-service-tokyo-7774
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/toyota-road-ev-car-sharing-service-tokyo-7774Thu, 26 Feb 2015 10:58:00Terra Motors to launch electric three-wheelers in India in 2015<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/891/7891/dsc-0502.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Terra Motors, the Japanese manufacturer of electric two- and three-wheelers, has taken the covers off the &lsquo;R6&rsquo;, which it plans to sell in India early next year.</p>
<p>According to Toru Tokushige, CEO and founder, Terra Motors, &ldquo;India is one of the most important countries for our company. Currently, there are so many e-rickshaws from China without homologation. We design the vehicle for safety and durability. The R6 is now being tested by a certificated agency. We aim for 10,000 units of sales for electric three-wheelers within 2015. We are now developing 2 to 3 types of electric three-wheelers including the e-rickshaw segment with a competitive price&rdquo;</p>
<p>He added, &ldquo;Terra Motors is set to deliver electric vehicles of high quality and services. We have done the market research for two years and decided to develop the powertrain including battery, motors, controllers and chargers. With the expertise and a strong research and technology background for electric vehicles, we strongly believe that our products will exceed market expectations. Along with product superiority, we also will create service support.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Terra Motors claims with full charge, the R6 can go as far as 100km and that the vehicle has been tested in India for durability.<strong></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Terra Motors, the Japanese manufacturer of electric two- and three-wheelers, has taken the covers of the ‘R6’, which it plans to sell in India early next year.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/891/7891/dsc-0502.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/891/7891/dsc-0502.jpg&h=485&w=7357132https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-launch-electric-wheelers-india-2015-7132
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-launch-electric-wheelers-india-2015-7132Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:54:00Atul Auto acquires land for new facility<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/560/6560/atul-auto-factory.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Rajkot-based three-wheel manufacturer Atul Auto is in process of acquiring land to build a greenfield facility near Ahmedabad.</p>
<p>The company has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange in a filing that it is &lsquo;looking at the upward movement of business growth and exploring various options for capacity expansion&rsquo;. As part of expansion strategy, it has identified approximately 70 acres of agriculture land near Bavla, of which it has acquired 35 acres.</p>
<p>Atul Auto has a facility at Shapar, 18 km away from Rajkot with an annual production capacity of 48,000 units that can be increased to 60,000 units depending on demand.&nbsp; The plant is equipped with advanced equipment and machinery that includes a CNC machine shop, fabrication shop and paint shop.</p>
<p>Autocar Professional reported in June 1, 2014 issue the company&rsquo;s plans for a new plant and to target annual production capacity of 30,000 units in first phase, &nbsp;and subsequently doubling it.</p>
<p>The company also said that it plans to commence operations in next 18-24 months once the land required is fully acquired.</p>
<p>For Atul Auto, Gujarat and Rajasthan are its largest markets. However, it plans to foray into other rural markets including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.</p>
<p>The company has sold 11,578 units in the four-month period ended July 2014 as against 10,392 units in the year-earlier period. Its marketshare, as per SIAM, is 6.70 percent.</p>
<p>The Atul Auto range includes brands such as Shakti, Gem, Smart, and Gemini.</p><![CDATA[Rajkot-based three-wheel manufacturer Atul Auto is in process of acquiring land to build a greenfield facility near Ahmedabad.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/560/6560/atul-auto-factory.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/560/6560/atul-auto-factory.jpg&h=485&w=7356261https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/atul-auto-acquires-land-facility-6261
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/atul-auto-acquires-land-facility-6261Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:00:00Exclusive: Japan’s Terra Motors to start India business with electric three-wheeler<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/410/6410/terra-motors.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Terra Motors Corporation, Japan&rsquo;s leading electric two- and three-wheeler manufacturer, plans to introduce an electric three-wheeler in the Indian market around October this year. It is believed the company will undertake contract manufacturing for the product with a Rajkot-based manufacturer.</p>
<p>Terra Motors is looking to price the electric three-wheeler very competitively against conventional three-wheelers and is banking on offering low operating costs. The existing electric three-wheeler market in India is pegged at 100,000 units.</p>
<p>In an earlier interview with Autocar Professional, the company&rsquo;s founder and CEO Toru Tokushige had said that Terra Motors will invest Rs 30 crore in India during 2014-15. Terra Motors has showcased its products for the first time in India at the Auto Expo 2014 in Greater Noida, including the T4 electric three-wheeler.</p>
<p>The T4 is powered by a 3.5Kw motor which draws charge from 48V, 120Ah battery. The company offers a option of lead acid as well as lithium ion battery options in the T4. The estimated range, according to company data, is 80km with a total capacity to carry 3-5 passengers excluding the driver.</p>
<p>Tokushige feels that even though electric vehicles have gained acceptance in Europe and America as a means of mobility, they have very strong prospects in Asia. &ldquo;More than 30 million units of electric two-wheelers were sold in China in 2013, and hundreds of thousands of electric three-wheelers have already been sold in India and in Bangladesh because of the high price of petrol. Therefore, we need to focus on Asian markets,&rdquo; Tokushige had said a few months ago. In addition to India, Terra Motors will also enter Bangladesh this year. <br /> Tokyo-based Terra Motors was founded in 2010. Its investors include former president of Sony Corporation, Nobuyuki Idei, Koichiro Tsujino, former president of Google Japan and Kenji Yamamoto, former vice-president of sales at Apple Inc, USA.</p>
<p>Photograph: Terra Motors&rsquo; CEO Toru Tokushige with the T4 electric three-wheeler.&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Terra Motors Corporation, Japan’s leading electric two- and three-wheeler manufacturer, plans to introduce an electric three-wheeler in the Indian market around October this year.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/410/6410/terra-motors.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/410/6410/terra-motors.jpg&h=485&w=7356172https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-introduce-electric-wheeler-india-october-6172
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/terra-motors-introduce-electric-wheeler-india-october-6172Tue, 19 Aug 2014 18:33:00Atul Auto inks MoU with IDBI Bank for dealer inventory funding<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/499/5499/atulauto.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Three-wheel manufacturer Atul Auto has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IDBI Bank to avail of inventory funding for its dealers at attractive interest rates. As part of this arrangement, IDBI Bank will provide funding to over 150 dealers of Atul Auto across the country. This will enable them to increase their working capital, vehicle stocks and consequently enhance retail sales.</p>
<p>Atul Auto sold 36,972 three-wheelers in the domestic market in 2013-14, posting a year-on-year 16.31 percent increase. On the export front, it shipped 585 units.</p>
<p>Photograph (L-R): Jayantibhai J Chandra, CMD, Atul Auto with S K V Srinivasan, executive director (RBG), IDBI Bank.&nbsp;</p><![CDATA[Three-wheel manufacturer Atul Auto has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IDBI Bank to avail of inventory funding for its dealers at attractive interest rates.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAutocar Pro News Desk Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/499/5499/atulauto.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/499/5499/atulauto.jpg&h=485&w=7355659https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/atul-auto-inks-mou-idbi-bank-dealer-inventory-funding-5659
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/atul-auto-inks-mou-idbi-bank-dealer-inventory-funding-5659Wed, 21 May 2014 12:38:36Piaggio to challenge Bajaj in export markets<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/478/5478/12-india.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Piaggio, which recently added some extra sheen to its Vespa brand with the Vespa S scooter, is also working on expanding its bread-and-butter three-wheeler business. The company, which has established itself as a leader in the three-wheeler cargo carrier market in India, now wants to earn a respectable share in the passenger carrier space as well. Piaggio Vehicles India, which entered the Bajaj Auto-dominated segment in the domestic market with the Ape Xtra passenger carrier, is now looking at challenging the market leader in international markets.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Bajaj sells more overseas than it does in India. It has a monopoly. Now that we have a product, we will start slowly entering into international markets as well,&rdquo; said Ravi Chopra, chairman and managing director, Piaggio Vehicles India.</p>
<p>India&rsquo;s domestic three-wheeler market stood at 479,634 units in 2013-14. Of the total market, 80 percent comprised passenger carriers. Piaggio, which sold 117,380 units in the last financial year, has a 30 percent market share while market leader Bajaj enjoys an almost 50 percent share. In the alternate fuel segment, the figure goes to over 90 percent.</p>
<p>In the export market, Piaggio sold 18,696 passenger-carrying three-wheelers compared to Bajaj Auto&rsquo;s 260,762 units. Chopra sees a strong opportunity for his company in the export markets.</p>
<p>In the coming months, Piaggio plans to export its passenger carrier three-wheelers to Latin America and the African markets like Kenya, Tanzania and Egypt.</p>
<p>Chopra is bullish about the prospects of the three-wheeler market even though some OEMs have launched small four-wheeler passenger vans. He is of the opinion that quadricycles may not be a threat to the autorickshaw. &ldquo;The rate of growth may come down but the market cannot be wished away. Three-wheelers are here to remain whether you like it or not. They will co-exist with any other four-wheeler,&rdquo; says Chopra.</p>
<p>Piaggio is defending the three-wheeler bet but it is also testing the waters to enter the quadricycle segment in India. That could be based on the NT3 four-wheeler concept, which was showcased at the Auto Expo in February 2014. &ldquo;The idea is to demonstrate our capabilities, strengths, technical competence and design capability. Once we do this, applications can evolve,&rdquo; says Chopra. He doesn&rsquo;t mention if a production version of it is coming soon but says &ldquo;we can make a quadricycle anytime,&rdquo; in another interview. He does not mind though if Bajaj Auto is the first one to enter that segment.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="center tinyimg_caption" style="width: 580px;"><img alt="ravichopra" border="0" src="https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/480/5480/ravichopra.jpg&h=485&w=735" title='ravichopra' width='580' height='358'></div>
<p><strong>INTERVIEW WITH Ravi Chopra, CMD, Piaggio Vehicles India</strong></p>
<p><strong>How do you plan to build your Vespa scooter brand further?</strong><br>We launched the Vespa two years ago. We were able to create a premium space in the scooter segment, which did not exist before. Having done that, we are proud to own that space because we know nobody else can enter that space. Therefore, we are adding more products, variants and extensions which can change in the Vespa range so that, ultimately, we bring the Vespa world to India.</p>
<p><strong>The scooter market seems to be immune to the overall slowdown in the two-wheeler market. Do you expect the good run to continue?</strong><br>In the two-wheeler market, scooters have had a sustained 15 percent CAGR. All that is fine but we are not looking at volumes as a mass-market product. We are looking at volumes that will support our premium positioning strategy. So there is enough to penetrate. We want to look at the bigger picture. What does the customer need? He needs brand value, something that gives him that value addition. That is what we are providing with the Vespa and a premium product. If we were not providing that, we would be like any other mass- market product.</p>
<p><strong>Like the Vespa scooters, do you plan to assemble the Aprilia, Moto Guzzi bikes too?</strong><br>At present, we are using the CBU route. Tomorrow, we can have an SKD route. But CBU route or SKD route, the price is not going to change. Price is value for money. We will leverage the custom duty structure, so there will be cost efficiency because if we import an SKD, the duty is 30 percent, if you import a CBU, it is 60-75 percent. But that does not mean the pricing structure will change. We want the buyer to make a clear choice for the product and not buy any other, even if offered 10 choices.</p><![CDATA[Piaggio, which recently added some extra sheen to its Vespa brand with the Vespa S scooter, is also working on expanding its bread-and-butter three-wheeler business.]]>Autocar ProfessionalSumantra B Barooah Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/478/5478/12-india.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/478/5478/12-india.jpg&h=485&w=7355648https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-challenge-bajaj-export-markets-5648
https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/piaggio-challenge-bajaj-export-markets-5648Tue, 20 May 2014 15:18:00INDIA MARKET ANALYSIS – December 2013<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/316/4316/hyundai-grand-i10-vs-swift-and-brio.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p>Decembers are usually known for slack sales in general as buyers tend to delay purchases to the new year, hoping to buy the latest model. So December 2013 was no different in that respect even as it saw some OEMs offer handsome discounts to woo buyers into showrooms.&nbsp; However, consumer sentiments continue to be low. The prices of fuel remain volatile with yet another fuel price hike on January 3, 2014 (petrol &ndash; Rs 81.31/litre and diesel &ndash; Rs 62.6/litre; both Mumbai) and that means buyers will delay purchase decisions. CNG is also 10 percent costlier now.</p>
<p>The year 2013 was easily one of the most challenging years in recent times as sales fell in 11 of 12 months (barring August&nbsp; 2013 when sales rose on a low base). Moreover, a bunch of OEMs (such as Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India, Mercedes-Benz India, Renault India, GM India and others) have increased the prices of models across their respective portfolios to counter the increasing costs of raw materials, the effect of rupee depreciation and the slowdown.</p>
<p>In December 2013, <strong>Maruti Suzuki India</strong> sold 86,613 units domestically, up 5.5 percent (December 2012: 82,073 units). The mini passenger vehicle segment (M800, Alto, A-star, WagonR) saved the day for the company as it registered a reasonable growth of 16.7 percent at 38,286 units sold during the month (December 2012: 32,797 units). The Alto sold 23,823 units while the Swift and Dzire sold 16,788 and 15,427 units respectively. The Omni had another great month with 5,590 units sold and secured its place in the Top 10 for the fourth consecutive time. Maruti Suzuki has six brands in the Top 10 as the Ertiga with 4,924 pipped the Innova by a handful to get to No. 9 slot. However, the SX4 saloon saw a fall of 17.6 percent as Maruti sold just 271 units in December 2013 as compared to 329 units in December 2012.</p>
<p><strong>Hyundai Motor India</strong> (HMIL) sold 28,345 units during the month, up by 6.2 percent (December 2012: 26,697 units). Notably, the company has managed to sell over 40,000 units of its new Grand i10 since its launch in September 2013. With a saloon version close to launch, HMIL is keen to consolidate its sales based on this platform. The company sold 9,077 units of the Grand i10 which, along with the Eon (5,428 units) are the only two Hyundai brands in the Top 10. Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP (sales &amp; marketing), said: &ldquo;Hyundai made strong initiatives in rural and exchange sales to increase its market share to the highest level since its inception and achieved the annual business plan.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Mahindra &amp; Mahindra </strong>(M&amp;M) sold a total of 16,436 units (including all utility vehicles, Verito and Verito Vibe), down 27.8 percent as against December 2012 where it sold 22,761 units. The company sold 8,465 units of the Bolero and 3,418 units of the Scorpio.</p>
<p><strong>Toyota Kirloskar Motor </strong>recorded domestic sales of 10,648 units in December 2013 as compared to 12,071 units in December 2012, down by 11.79 percent. Sandeep Singh, deputy MD and COO, marketing and commercial, TKM, said: &ldquo;The market sentiments do not seem to be improving. In the last few months, we have made our best efforts to control inventory both at TKM and at our dealers end.&rdquo; While the Etios sold 2,804 units, the Liva sold 1,616 units.</p>
<p><strong>Tata Motors </strong>sold 9,272 units of its passenger cars during the month, down by 62.41 percent (December 2012: 24,669 units). While the Nano, Indica and Indigo range of passenger cars sold&nbsp; 6,537 units, the Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture range managed to sell 2,735 units during the month.</p>
<p><strong>Ford India</strong> clocked domestic sales of 5,871 units, down 9.91 percent (December 2012: 6,517 units). The EcoSport sold 3,905 units, ahead of the Mahindra Scorpio and Renault Duster which sold 3,418 and 2,613 units respectively.&nbsp; The Figo sold 1,862 units.</p>
<p><strong>General Motors India</strong>, on the other hand, sold 5,705 units last month as against 7,067 units sold during December 2012, a fall of 19.27 percent. The Tavera sold 870 units.</p>
<p><strong>Honda Cars India </strong>(HCIL) saw a growth of 29.5 percent on its December 2013 sales with 5,493 units sold. (December 2012: 4,242 units).&nbsp; The Amaze sold 4,458 units, the Brio 1,026 units and nine units of the CR-V. Jnaneswar Sen, SVP &ndash; marketing &amp; sales, HCIL, said: &ldquo;2013 was a very good year for Honda Cars India as we crossed the 100,000 mark in domestic sales for the first time in a calendar year with sales 107,661 units.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>TWO-WHEELERS SAVE THE BLUSHES</strong></p>
<p>With all vehicle segments taking a beating in December 2013, the two-wheeler category was the sole segment with positive numbers (up 2.32 percent) and sales of 1,163,465 units (December 2012: 1,449,203). Of that, scooters notched a handsome 29.86 growth, contributing sales of 301,714 units (December 2012: 232,343). <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Hero MotoCorp</strong> (HMCL) sold 524,990 units as against 541,615 units sold in December 2012, down by 3 percent. However, the company claims it had its best ever calendar year performance with total sales of 61,83,784 units. Anil Dua, senior vice-president (marketing &amp; sales), HCL, said: &ldquo;While in 2013, we adopted a fresh approach with increased focus on technology, innovation and youth-centric products, 2014 will be action-packed with radically new product launches, entry into new markets backed by new, clutter-breaking campaigns and continued network expansion.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Honda Motorcycle &amp; Scooter India</strong> (HMSI) sold 296,144 units during the month, up by 36 percent (December 2012: 217,498 units). While motorcycles, which saw sales of 125,109 units during the month (December 2012: 106,254 units) grew by 18 percent, it was the scooters segment which made a mark. HMSI sold 171,035 scooters, up a solid 54 percent over December 2012 sales of 111,244 scooters. In terms of models, the Dream Neo commuter motorcycle sold over 100,000 units in seven months of its launch.</p>
<p>Selling 260,645 motorcycles (domestic and exports) during December 2013, <strong>Bajaj Auto </strong>(BAL) registered a fall of 13 percent over 298,350 units sold in December 2012. Year-to-date (April-December 2013) sales stand at 25,97,112 units, down by 10 percent (April-December 2012: 28,97,410 units).</p>
<p><strong>TVS Motor Company</strong>&rsquo;s total domestic two-wheeler sales accounted for 132,664 units in December 2013 as against 134,566 units registered in December 2012. Scooter sales did better than bikes recording a 38 percent increase from 30,398 units in December 2012 to 41,817 units in December 2013. Motorcycle sales were down to 57,576 units against 60,210 units in December 2012.</p>
<p><strong>India Yamaha Motor </strong>sold 39,777 units in the domestic market against 25,123 units sold in December 2012, up 58 percent.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Mahindra Two Wheelers</strong> recorded domestic sales of 19,054 units during the month, up by 267 percent on a low base. Driven by the demand for the Centuro, the company is expanding production as well as increasing its sales and service touch points to over 1,000 across the country.</p>
<p>With just one remaining quarter in 2013-14, OEMs will hope that sales will continue in positive territory but there appear to be few reasons to think sales may rise. The year is likely to go down as one of the worst in living memory. However, some new passenger car models have done well going by the likes of the Honda Amaze and the Hyundai Grand i10. Also, two-wheeler sales seem above water and may yet rescue the Indian auto sector at the end of the fiscal when the final numbers are tallied</p><![CDATA[While the top two carmakers saw sales rise in December 2013, thanks to time-tested models as well as new models, overall numbers were down. Two-wheeler sales, particularly scooters with 30 percent growth, were a saving grace though]]>Autocar ProfessionalAjit Dalvi Industry, Passenger Vehicles, Two-Wheelers, Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/316/4316/hyundai-grand-i10-vs-swift-and-brio.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/316/4316/hyundai-grand-i10-vs-swift-and-brio.jpg&h=485&w=7354927https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/india-market-analysis-december-2013-4927
https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/india-market-analysis-december-2013-4927Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:44:10INDIA MARKET ANALYSIS – December 2013<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/315/4315/ap-mag1.jpg&h=485&w=735'/><div><p><strong>Three quarters in the slow lane, no respite</strong></p>
<p><em>While the top two carmakers saw sales rise in December 2013, thanks to time-tested models as well as new models, overall numbers were down. Two-wheeler sales, particularly scooters with 30 percent growth, were a saving grace though. Amit Panday reports. </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Decembers are usually known for slack sales in general as buyers tend to delay purchases to the new year, hoping to buy the latest model. So December 2013 was no different in that respect even as it saw some OEMs offer handsome discounts to woo buyers into showrooms.&nbsp; However, consumer sentiments continue to be low. The prices of fuel remain volatile with yet another fuel price hike on January 3, 2014 (petrol &ndash; Rs 81.31/litre and diesel &ndash; Rs 62.6/litre; both Mumbai) and that means buyers will delay purchase decisions. CNG is also 10 percent costlier now.</p>
<p>The year 2013 was easily one of the most challenging years in recent times as sales fell in 11 of 12 months (barring August&nbsp; 2013 when sales rose on a low base). Moreover, a bunch of OEMs (such as Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India, Mercedes-Benz India, Renault India, GM India and others) have increased the prices of models across their respective portfolios to counter the increasing costs of raw materials, the effect of rupee depreciation and the slowdown.</p>
<p>In December 2013, <strong>Maruti Suzuki India</strong> sold 86,613 units domestically, up 5.5 percent (December 2012: 82,073 units). The mini passenger vehicle segment (M800, Alto, A-star, WagonR) saved the day for the company as it registered a reasonable growth of 16.7 percent at 38,286 units sold during the month (December 2012: 32,797 units). The Alto sold 23,823 units while the Swift and Dzire sold 16,788 and 15,427 units respectively. The Omni had another great month with 5,590 units sold and secured its place in the Top 10 for the fourth consecutive time. Maruti Suzuki has six brands in the Top 10 as the Ertiga with 4,924 pipped the Innova by a handful to get to No. 9 slot. However, the SX4 saloon saw a fall of 17.6 percent as Maruti sold just 271 units in December 2013 as compared to 329 units in December 2012.</p>
<p><strong>Hyundai Motor India</strong> (HMIL) sold 28,345 units during the month, up by 6.2 percent (December 2012: 26,697 units). Notably, the company has managed to sell over 40,000 units of its new Grand i10 since its launch in September 2013. With a saloon version close to launch, HMIL is keen to consolidate its sales based on this platform. The company sold 9,077 units of the Grand i10 which, along with the Eon (5,428 units) are the only two Hyundai brands in the Top 10. Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP (sales &amp; marketing), said: &ldquo;Hyundai made strong initiatives in rural and exchange sales to increase its market share to the highest level since its inception and achieved the annual business plan.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Mahindra &amp; Mahindra </strong>(M&amp;M) sold a total of 16,436 units (including all utility vehicles, Verito and Verito Vibe), down 27.8 percent as against December 2012 where it sold 22,761 units. The company sold 8,465 units of the Bolero and 3,418 units of the Scorpio.</p>
<p><strong>Toyota Kirloskar Motor </strong>recorded domestic sales of 10,648 units in December 2013 as compared to 12,071 units in December 2012, down by 11.79 percent. Sandeep Singh, deputy MD and COO, marketing and commercial, TKM, said: &ldquo;The market sentiments do not seem to be improving. In the last few months, we have made our best efforts to control inventory both at TKM and at our dealers end.&rdquo; While the Etios sold 2,804 units, the Liva sold 1,616 units.</p>
<p><strong>Tata Motors </strong>sold 9,272 units of its passenger cars during the month, down by 62.41 percent (December 2012: 24,669 units). While the Nano, Indica and Indigo range of passenger cars sold&nbsp; 6,537 units, the Sumo, Safari, Aria and Venture range managed to sell 2,735 units during the month.</p>
<p><strong>Ford India</strong> clocked domestic sales of 5,871 units, down 9.91 percent (December 2012: 6,517 units). The EcoSport sold 3,905 units, ahead of the Mahindra Scorpio and Renault Duster which sold 3,418 and 2,613 units respectively.&nbsp; The Figo sold 1,862 units.</p>
<p><strong>General Motors India</strong>, on the other hand, sold 5,705 units last month as against 7,067 units sold during December 2012, a fall of 19.27 percent. The Tavera sold 870 units.</p>
<p><strong>Honda Cars India </strong>(HCIL) saw a growth of 29.5 percent on its December 2013 sales with 5,493 units sold. (December 2012: 4,242 units).&nbsp; The Amaze sold 4,458 units, the Brio 1,026 units and nine units of the CR-V. Jnaneswar Sen, SVP &ndash; marketing &amp; sales, HCIL, said: &ldquo;2013 was a very good year for Honda Cars India as we crossed the 100,000 mark in domestic sales for the first time in a calendar year with sales 107,661 units.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>TWO-WHEELERS SAVE THE BLUSHES</strong></p>
<p>With all vehicle segments taking a beating in December 2013, the two-wheeler category was the sole segment with positive numbers (up 2.32 percent) and sales of 1,163,465 units (December 2012: 1,449,203). Of that, scooters notched a handsome 29.86 growth, contributing sales of 301,714 units (December 2012: 232,343). <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Hero MotoCorp</strong> (HMCL) sold 524,990 units as against 541,615 units sold in December 2012, down by 3 percent. However, the company claims it had its best ever calendar year performance with total sales of 61,83,784 units. Anil Dua, senior vice-president (marketing &amp; sales), HCL, said: &ldquo;While in 2013, we adopted a fresh approach with increased focus on technology, innovation and youth-centric products, 2014 will be action-packed with radically new product launches, entry into new markets backed by new, clutter-breaking campaigns and continued network expansion.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Honda Motorcycle &amp; Scooter India</strong> (HMSI) sold 296,144 units during the month, up by 36 percent (December 2012: 217,498 units). While motorcycles, which saw sales of 125,109 units during the month (December 2012: 106,254 units) grew by 18 percent, it was the scooters segment which made a mark. HMSI sold 171,035 scooters, up a solid 54 percent over December 2012 sales of 111,244 scooters. In terms of models, the Dream Neo commuter motorcycle sold over 100,000 units in seven months of its launch.</p>
<p>Selling 260,645 motorcycles (domestic and exports) during December 2013, <strong>Bajaj Auto </strong>(BAL) registered a fall of 13 percent over 298,350 units sold in December 2012. Year-to-date (April-December 2013) sales stand at 25,97,112 units, down by 10 percent (April-December 2012: 28,97,410 units).</p>
<p><strong>TVS Motor Company</strong>&rsquo;s total domestic two-wheeler sales accounted for 132,664 units in December 2013 as against 134,566 units registered in December 2012. Scooter sales did better than bikes recording a 38 percent increase from 30,398 units in December 2012 to 41,817 units in December 2013. Motorcycle sales were down to 57,576 units against 60,210 units in December 2012.</p>
<p><strong>India Yamaha Motor </strong>sold 39,777 units in the domestic market against 25,123 units sold in December 2012, up 58 percent.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Mahindra Two Wheelers</strong> recorded domestic sales of 19,054 units during the month, up by 267 percent on a low base. Driven by the demand for the Centuro, the company is expanding production as well as increasing its sales and service touch points to over 1,000 across the country.</p>
<p>With just one remaining quarter in 2013-14, OEMs will hope that sales will continue in positive territory but there appear to be few reasons to think sales may rise. The year is likely to go down as one of the worst in living memory. However, some new passenger car models have done well going by the likes of the Honda Amaze and the Hyundai Grand i10. Also, two-wheeler sales seem above water and may yet rescue the Indian auto sector at the end of the fiscal when the final numbers are tallied. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Photograph: The Grand i10 continues to bring in the numbers for Hyundai, selling 9,077 units in December. Rivals like the Maruti Swift and Honda Brio sold 16,788 and 1,026 units respectively during the month which saw overall passenger car sales down by 4.52 percent to 132,561 units.&nbsp;</em></p><![CDATA[While the top two carmakers saw sales rise in December 2013, thanks to time-tested models as well as new models, overall numbers were down.]]>Autocar ProfessionalAjit Dalvi Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Three-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/315/4315/ap-mag1.jpg&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles//IMG/315/4315/ap-mag1.jpg&h=485&w=7354926https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/india-market-analysis-december-2013-4926
https://www.autocarpro.in/analysis-sales/india-market-analysis-december-2013-4926Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00A changing Indian auto sector<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>The Indian automobile industry has reached a very interesting point by now: multinational companies (MNCs) have reached a 75 percent market share in the passenger car and utility vehicle markets. What has happened in the last decenny?<br></br>
First, Maruti Udyog has been privatised by the Indian state and has become Maruti Suzuki,with Suzuki owning 54 percent of the capital. Second, the large MNCs, after a very long period of trials and errors, have started to market attractive products. <br></br>
Of course, Hyundai has been the most efficient in grabbing 17 percent market share with the Eon, I10, i20 but Toyota, Ford, GM, VW, Nissan and Renault have also launched a slew of products that have dented the Indian OEMs marketshare, namely the Etios, Figo, Beat, Vento, Micra and Duster.<br></br>
This same shifting point has not yet occured in the heavy commercial vehicles with Indian players having 95 percent marketshare with Tata, Ashok Leyland and Eicher. But once again, international MNCs are now fully prepared to attack with BharatBenz, Volvo and Navistar.<br></br>
Similarly for the two-wheeler industry, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor keep a 78 percent market share. But once again, after Hero and Honda split last year, Honda Motorcycle &amp; Scooter India is gaining rapid marketshare and is now challenging Bajaj’s number two 2 position.<br></br>
How could the Indian Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers be impacted by such a rapid shift has become the key question for the auto industry ? For this $40 billion industry, covering more than 650 companies, the pressure is building from their foreign counterparts from Japan, Korea, Europe and USA. <br></br>
Top 20 players like Bosch, Continental, Valeo, Bridgestone, Faurecia and Michelin have already entered the fray and are deploying their heavy resources.But more than the huge amount of financial resources, these companies spend about four or five percent of their turnover on R&amp;D, when the Indian industry hardly spends two percent and has a huge reservoir of human talents, who develop their innovations. In the last 20 years, Bosch has invented ABS for braking, ESP for safe handling, common-rail for diesel and has developed a capital of over 5,000 engineers in India.<br></br>
This trilogy of investment, human talent and technology is the sinews of war. Of course, large Indian suppliers have already taken up the gauntlet. TVS, Anand Group, JK Group, Systech (Mahindra Group), Bharat Forge and many others are heavily committed to raising their levels of human and technical expertise.
In order to develop technology, three different routes are normally used. The most conventional and widespread is the license agreement with some technical assistance from Western companies. For instance, TVS is the licensee for Delphi common-rail in India. It’s a well-oiled solution, but the limits are set with what Western companies wish to offer.<br></br>
The second most common is the joint venture agreement with an export company, like for instance MothersonSumi in the field of wiring harnesses. The third one, which is growing fast, is the acquisition of foreign companies: Systech has been one of the pioneers when it acquired Schoeneweiss in Germany and Stoke in UK, in order to grow its expertise in forged crankshafts.<br></br>
There is an alternative road, still at the infancy stage, where companies could recruit top talent from overseas in order to build internal knowledge faster.
OEMs have aready some experience on this front; for instance Karl Slym as a CEO at Tata Motors or Rick Haas as the senior vice- president, product development, at Mahindra Automotive and a few more. Suppliers are more and more interested by this solution and thanks to transition management, they can now recruit experts for a fixed duration like 10 or 20 months with a specific set of objectives. NewbridgePartners, a French company recently set up in Mumbai, has advanced discussions in progress in the fields of foundry, rubber, plastic and logistics with several Indian suppliers.<br></br>
The relative size of Indian companies compared to their competitors is small and the numbers are very high. French auto suppliers are five times less numerous than Indian ones for the same turnover. <br></br>
Robert Bosch has a $ 66 billion turnover when Anand Group has reached $1 billion. Looking at each technology cluster, like foundries in Rajkot or in Coimbatore, we coud meet as many as 100 differentcompanies. Consolidation has to be made in order to reach a decent size facing Western competitors and interacting with large car manufacturers.
Larger players will probably grab this opportunity in the coming decenny but they will have to compete with their foreign counterparts. This consolidation has occured in the early 1980s, when for instance Valeo had acquired tens of European companies under its umbrella.<br></br>
India enjoys a 10 to 20 percent cost competitiveness compared to the Western world, thanks to its low labour cost and its frugal approach to doing business. That is a key success factor for its export growth. Obviously, China and other Asian countries like Indonesia are competing to grab market share from multinational companies.<br></br>
Export of automotive components to the rest of the world (mostly Europe and the USA) is still growing rapidly (from $5 billion today to $ 29 billion, according to ACMA forecast for 2020). But the rapid growth of salaries even at the shopfloor level may hamper this fast development. Some advanced actors have already robotised a part of their manufacturing processes, with simple yet cost-effective devices, in order to limit the burden of labour for the future. Hopefully, the New Manufacturing Policy should become a serious tool to avoid labour unrest and promote industrial development.<br></br>
One unique strength of India is its frugal approach to business. From frugal innovation, like the micro-hybrid technology developed by Bosch and Mahindra &amp; Mahindra to frugal manufacturing, like the widespread recycling of second-hand machine tools from Western origin, Indian engineers are still keen to launch new products and services at a fraction of the investment and development cost needed by foreigners. <br></br>
But here again, few have already learnt how to behave the Indian way. Taking the Tata Nano as one of the best example frugal innovations, Bosch India has taken quite a significant share of the business with petrol fuel injection, wiping system and braking system. All of these specific developments have been made in India by local Bosch teams. It will be interesting to see how innovation spreads between Indian and foreign suppliers in the future.
Indian OEMs are going to take a larger market share in global markets and they would need their suppliers to follow them, where they decide to make their investments.<br></br>
In the Western world, they would have to acquire local companies or partner with them. The ease of doing business overseas is just as complex as doing business in India for a foreign company. Trial and mistakes can be limited by using local consultants and by using local managers, which are plentiful and well trained.
Intercultural issues will add to the challenge and should therefore not be underestimated. The failure of few takeovers in Europe could have been probably avoided with the assistance of some some intercultural experts.
Post-merger integration is a unique task for a limited period of time (under 18 months) and should be handled by specialists. Once again, transition managers, having done it on different occasions, could be assigned to this important task. <br></br>
As my Japanese friends would say, let me wish all of you gambatte kudasai or good luck!<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354152https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/changing-indian-auto-sector-4152
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/changing-indian-auto-sector-4152Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:46:24Can Myanmar be the new frontier for India?<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>India’s neighbours are happy hunting grounds for automotive OEMs. Tata and Leyland trucks ply the roads of Sri Lanka and in Pakistan, Daewoo trucks, owned by Tata Motors, are exported from South Korea directly to Pakistan.
The Nano, touted as the world’s most affordable car, has seen sales numbers go up in Nepal and Sri Lanka, where it recently crossed the 1,000-mark. Apart from the fact that these countries are close in terms of socio-economic profile, a stronger currency translates into higher prices for Indian vehicles in our neighbouring countries. Therefore, the Nano retails at 800,000 Nepalese rupees.<br></br>
Now a new frontier is opening up on India’s eastern flank. Myanmar has been long forgotten by the world, but not China, which has provided some sort of support to that country’s former ruling military junta. Myanmar is now embarking on a process of reform. <br></br>
Myanmar’s trade minister U Win Myint recently came calling. In October last year, the country’s president Thein Sein was in Delhi. So far, India’s engagement with South East Asia, from an automotive perspective, has been Thailand which is now going through a crisis following the floods that inundated major parts. Thailand is the hub for Honda’s operations in this part of the world.<br></br>
However, Myanmar is virgin territory and to enable Indian business to gain at least a toehold there, India has announced a multi-million dollar line of credit during the Myanmar president's visit. Indeed, Meral Karasulu, the deputy division chief of the IMF Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, has been quoted as saying, “Burma has a high growth potential and could become the next economic frontier in Asia, if it can turn its rich natural resources, young labour force, and proximity to some of the most dynamic economies in the world, into its advantage.”<br></br>
At a press meeting at last month’s Auto Expo, Tata Motors said the company plans to set up an assembly unit for CVs in the country. The company, which has a JV in Thailand, recently displayed its trucks at a vehicle show. Now Tata, says Prakash Telang – head of India operations, plans to assemble three-axle trucks, in the initial phase of operations in Myanmar and later look at buses and small commercial vehicles.<br></br>
Mumbai-based economist, Madan Sabnavis says, “India will have a first-mover advantage here. At present, the focus is more on power and oil exploration, though we can see doors opening in the auto sector too because when countries open up there is invariably, a greater demand for consumer goods including automobiles. Here too, it would be the two-wheeler segment which should leverage this opportunity while the car segment will have to weigh the competition from other nations too such as China and South Korea.” <br></br>
Last week, Ceat announced plans for a Rs 250 crore tyre plant and its deputy managing director Anant Geonka has been quoted in media reports as saying that exports to places like Myanmar are a possibility. Clearly, Myanmar is on some corporate radars. <br></br>
A lot of what Indian automotive companies can do is also dependent on the kind of infrastructure that Myanmar has, which would not be in the best of shape given the country’s economic isolation. Myanmar is also overwhelmingly an agrarian economy.<br></br>
Media reports suggest that the new Thailand prime minister, Yingluck Shinwatra, during her recent trip to India has offered the government a chance to invest in the Thai-Italian joint venture that aims to build up a world-class port at Dawei. Through the port and transport links, an average of 10 days will be cut from the journey of goods bound for Thailand, China, Vietnam and Laos as cargo will no longer need to pass through the Strait of Malacca. While it is still early days, the reform process in Myanmar could well see some spin-offs for India’s own north-east. In the aftermath of the Singur controversy that impacted the Nano, it may be recalled that the Assam government was also keen to bag the project. Hopefully, the developments in Myanmar will spur more development in India’s own north-east which has remained largely undeveloped.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354159https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/myanmar-frontier-india-4159
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/myanmar-frontier-india-4159Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:30:49Decisive action needed for double-digit growth<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>SINCE THE USHERING in of liberalisation and deregulation in 1991, the Indian economy has grown faster than in any of the years since Independence. The pace of growth has been especially higher in the last decade – between 2004-05 and 2010-11, per capita income in India has doubled, to reach Rs 54,835 per annum currently. Regions in India that have had good governance and stable infrastructure,which are enablers of industrial growth, have grown higher than the national average: in 2010-11 Delhi had a GDP of US$ 46 billion, translating to per capita per annum income at Rs 1,35,814 and Maharashtra had GDP of US$ 190 billion, translating into per capita per annum income of Rs 83,471.<br></br>
However, 13 interest rate hikes since March 2010 have led to a 3.75 percent increase in interest rates, and the policy to curb demand to curb inflation has also made capital investment by organisations and big-ticket purchases by households like housing and cars an expensive proposition.With 67 percent of GDP consumed domestically, versus 34 percent for China, it is domestic demand that can drive growth in the Indian economy. <br></br>
Our objective is inclusive growth, which means bringing the unorganised sector into the mainstream, creating skilled jobs and raising living standards all around. With over nine million new entrants to the workforce each year, India needs decisive action to sustain a near-double-digit growth to achieve its stated objectives. <br></br>
The National Manufacturing Policy, aimed at raising manufacturing’s share from 16 percent to 25 percent of GDP and liberalising foreign direct investment in retail will give a fillip to investment, to make supply chains more efficient and acquisition of commercial vehicles by fleet owners for more efficient movement of goods. These policy initiatives are laudable as reviving growth, without generating inflation, will be made possible through private investment.Another policy initiative that can provide a fillip to manufacturing activity is next-generation reforms in labour laws. <br></br>
Further, since 2003 India has been saving and investing well over 30 percent of its national income. Looking at the disposable income and the long term, more than 60 vehicles, both for the passenger and commercial sectors, are being launched at the Auto Expo 2012 in New Delhi. Incidentally, commercial vehicle growth has been robust on the back of the GDP growth rate of about eight percent, and sustained freight rates, in the last several years. It is the passenger car segment that has seen a steep drop in growth due to high interest rates and general uncertainty in immediate scaling-up of operations by companies in the face of an uncertain domestic and international economic environment. <br></br>
However, the industry is looking forward for a stimulus package in the Union Budget coming up in February. In a pre-Budget representation to the Finance and Industries ministries, the auto industry has sought excise to be lowered to 16 percent from 22 percent on large cars in addition to removing the special additional duty of Rs 15,000 per car. If the proposed suggestions are conceded, then cars ranging from the Mahindra Bolero (priced at Rs 6 lakh) to the Mercedes-Benz E-class (Rs 50 lakh) will be considerably
cheaper. High-end cars would be cheaper by Rs 36,000 to Rs 300,000. Industry is also looking for state levies such as road tax and octroi to be brought under the purview of goods and services tax (GST).<br></br>
Another demand is the junking of cars and commercial vehicles which are over 10 or 15 years old. These vehicles should be taken off the road under a special scrappage scheme and incentives given for the same. Old vehicles thus scrapped should be completely destroyed to avoid re-entry in another form. <br></br>
As an industry body, we have pleaded against further increases in excise duty on diesel vehicles / cars, the only category still enjoying good demand. It will help if the government treats multi-utility vehicles like small buses.<br></br>
While the investment slowdown over the last few months has reduced GDP growth from nine percent to about seven percent, it is not going to structurally change the latent demand that could translate into consumption. And in the next decade, India’s GDP is expected to more than double from US$ 1.25 trillion in 2010 to US$ 2.84 trillion in 2020. In addition to serving as a large market, India also has abundant talent in engineering, beyond IT, potentially making the country an attractive R&amp;D destination and an international sourcing hub for global automakers.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354167https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/decisive-action-double-digit-growth-4167
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/decisive-action-double-digit-growth-4167Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:12:30Roti, Kapda aur car<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>In the last five year, India’s per capita income has doubled from Rs 29,676 in FY05 to Rs 58,683 in FY10. In this same period, private final consumption increased by around 80 percent. At the same time, the production of cars has doubled from 10.47 lakh to 21.20 lakh. <br><br>
Evidently, higher incomes are getting translated into demand for cars, which is probably one of the first striking signs of an economy on its feet. Those walking are on to a bicycle today while bicycle owners have graduated to two-wheelers, who in turn are owners of cars, with the Nano being the latest from the industry stable.<br><br>
This resurgent demand for cars is a contrast to what we had in the 1980s when the Maruti 800 came on road, where only the cream of society had access to this luxury. Things have changed today, and higher incomes across all segments of society have contributed to this phenomenon where owning a car at times looks more like a necessity than a vanity. Nonetheless, the main economic factors driving this boom are the forces of demand and supply.
Let us see the demand side first which has gone up for four reasons. The first is that man as a rule wants to ascend the ladder of living standards. Therefore, we are always in the mood to move up the consumption chain right from regular FMCG items to durable goods.<br><br>
Owning a two-wheeler or car is probably the closest to what most people aspire for to begin with even while possessing a house is the ultimate goal. However, given that the housing prices have escalated for the middle class, it is still beyond the bank balances of most people and hence a vehicle is the first sign of conspicuous consumption that we are witnessing, keep mobile handsets aside. <br><br>
The second is that the passenger cars industry has benefited immensely from the ‘Veblen’ effect, where we are always trying to keep up with the Joneses. This makes one migrate from a small to mid-size sedan to the more luxurious cars. The demonstration effect is manifested typically in middle class societies where people aspire to be what we may actually not be through the goods we consume. As this happens, those at the higher income levels maintain the distance by moving over to the luxury segment, thus keeping the class differentiation alive. This, in turn, has created a market for the cars, which have kept the manufacturers thinking and innovating. We, therefore, have multiple models coming from the factories of all manufacturers. <br><br>
The third factor is that many jobs come with a company loan scheme which means that there is direct access to finance to buy the first real asset for an individual. An important factor here is higher incomes, where even entry level employees of banks earning something like Rs 25,000-30,000 a month can think of buying a car. At the higher level, jobs come with bigger cars which keeps demand ticking. This is a more recent phenomenon in urban areas which adds to the demand which traditionally came from the so called gifts given at the time of marriages. <br><br>
Fourth, easy finance. Banks have been aggressive in lending for the purchase of automobiles where the repayment schedule is typically five years. This has helped individuals to actually take a loans of say Rs 4-5 lakh which can be repaid over five years depending on the person’s repayment ability. Today the interest rate structure is quite endearing with a single digit rate in the first year thane moves up with time linked to the base rates of banks. Easy bank finance has kept the demand for cars up over the years. The fact that interest rates were lowered by the RBI until the financial crisis set in, did make such loans cheap and which helped the industry. <br><br>
On the supply side, carmakers have leveraged this boom and customised their vehicles to suit the requirements. While we have many international brands in India, they have kept introducing new models to suit every echelon and also made modifications in design and features to sell new products. This also causes people to shift their preferences and change their model with greater frequency than they would have, say, a decade back. Car prices have tended to be stable, if not come down under the force of competition at least for the mid-level cars. <br><br>
For the luxury cars, the cost anyway does not matter and given the snob value, they can actually overcharge, as often the buyer is indulging in a brand. The same cannot be said about houses, as the cost of housing has risen sharply across all urban centers by between 20-100 percent over this period.
Given that India’s growth story is real and here to stay, we can expect incomes to increase as new sets of people entering the spending stream. More importantly, the automobile industry on its own has the power to propel the economy as faster growth in this sector translates into higher demand for machines, metals including steel, plastic products and chemicals which will be critical going ahead. This in itself will maintain the boom in the industry calling for more players and models (products) as it becomes a virtuous cycle.
<br><br>
Views expressed are personal<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354140https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/roti-kapda-aur-car-4140
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/roti-kapda-aur-car-4140Fri, 24 Dec 2010 06:00:55The way forward.<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>The Indian car market is expected to grow to four million units per year by 2015, thus increasing the car penetration per 1000 people substantially. This will translate into higher petrol and diesel demand coupled with scarcity and increase in price of these fuels. Another major concern would be the energy security of nations being threatened due to geopolitical reasons. These factors along with urban migration and increasing noise and air pollution levels make it imperative that we explore alternative mobility options like electric cars. We can no longer afford conventional fuel cars. <br><br>
A study by Frost &amp; Sullivan has estimated that by 2020 electric vehicles (EVs) will constitute 10 percent of passenger car sales. The activity in the EV industry has increased substantially to respond to this accelerating change in mobility. Every major automobile manufacturer today has announced an EV venture. Last year 42 EVs, including the new Reva NXG and NXR, were displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show. EVs from Nissan and Mitsubishi are expected as early as this year end while Volkswagen, Hyundai and Toyota are expected to roll out theirs by 2012-2013. <br><br>
Many countries are providing incentives to encourage the growth of the nascent EV industry. In the US, President Obama’s administration is giving ample emphasis on promoting EVs and $2.4 billion stimulus funds for batteries and EVs were announced last year. Britain has also announced plans to make the country ‘green’. In 2011, the British government will begin to grant loans up to &#163; 5,000 (Rs 4 lakh) to citizens who plan to buy electric cars.
The mayor of London has unveiled plans to turn London into the electric car capital of Europe by installing 25,000 charging ports in the city and creation of 400,000 jobs in ‘green industries’. And starting July 1, 2010, drivers who purchase plug-in hybrids or pure electric vehicles will qualify for between $4,000 and $10,000 in incentives in Ontario, Canada. In India, the Delhi government provides a 29.5 percent subsidy to customers who purchase an electric car. <br><br>
These developments are very exciting for us since we started operations at a time when the EV concept was very new to most people. The first Reva rolled out in 2001 in India; today we are present in 24 countries, with over 3500 cars on road. We have cars operating in regions that touch -20deg C to places that heat up to 45deg C. Our customers are change leaders who believe in greener mobility and have formed communities worldwide to share their knowledge and evangelise change. <br><br>
Our current model – the Reva-i – has found loyalists across the world, who have found it easy to drive and manoeuvre in congested city traffic while decreasing their carbon footprint. Our typical customer buys the Reva as a second car in the household in a city environ and is conscious of the environment. <br><br>
Reva's business model
Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) is today an ‘Insights, Ideas and Technology’ company gearing up for the growth ahead. We have a four- quadrant business model (product development, technology licensing, franchised manufacturing and mobility solutions) approach to advance the growth of EVs.<br><br>
We have worked on improving EV technologies and have 10 patents in the field. The computers on board Reva cars have helped us make these improvements by providing a wealth of information about performance and behaviour of batteries in various conditions. <br><br>
Our cars also include unique user-friendly features developed through customer feedback. REVive – the remote emergency charge feature launched for the first time in the world – addresses range anxiety in EV users. If a customer runs out of charge, he/she can telephone or SMS the Reva customer support centre, which remotely activates a reserve that allows the user to continue driving. The advanced telematics feature assesses the car’s batteries remotely to determine the amount of reserve that can
be safely released without harming the battery life and the user can be alerted on parameters such as distance-to-empty and time-to-full charge. The user can also remotely pre-heat or pre-cool the car cabin, get monthly updates on driving behaviour and tips on how to save more energy while driving.
To promote wider use of its EV technologies, Reva is also exploring the technology licensing route to increase the reach of affordable EVs. The partnership with General Motors in India is an example of licensing EV technology. Today, the Reva-GM collaboration is setting a trend in the EV market to increase the scale of the industry. <br><br>
This will enable the Indian market to see availability of EV choice to consumers with minimal time and lesser resource deployment from production to sales, denoting a win-win situation for all. In the long run, this new way of working will result in EVs being made more affordable to the end consumer along with increased product offerings from the Reva stable with non-conflicting partnerships. <br><br>
Our vision to make EVs globally available has also resulted in franchised manufacturing shaping up as a business expansion model. With this, a local entrepreneur can build a manufacturing facility to assemble Reva cars, given that our cars are built on the running chassis model and therefore make business sense to import and put together. Reva will support the local partner in establishing the assembly plant, quality control, distribution and aftersales service. However, we believe that the local government’s support will be an important catalyst in the success of franchised manufacturing. <br><br> This model completely changes the industry paradigm from large capital-intensive centralised manufacturing plants to distributed, low-cost, localised manufacturing plants set up around the world. As a result, now even small countries can have their own electric car manufacturing tuned to their local needs, positively impacting job creation and upscale in the economy.
We are bullish in our approach to expand franchised manufacturing and believe the customer will have access to EVs in line with their environment commitments, regardless of where they are located globally.<br><br>
We are also working closely on a fourth aspect of the business model – mobility solutions with local and international governments to develop ultra-low carbon technologies and projects from energy management systems, telematics and remote diagnostics to ideas for electrifying fleets. This will also include working with governments and/or private parties to provide an adequate charging and maintenance infrastructure. One such initiative is our recent tie-up with BSES Yamuna Power Ltd to set up 100 free charge ports for EV users in New Delhi. <br><br>
As we move towards the mass market for electric cars, Reva will adhere to its principle of not producing a polluting car. The new NXR and the NXG will be produced in Reva’s new ultra-low carbon assembly plant in Bangalore that is being built to IGBC (India Green Building Council) guidelines. Among other things, the plant harvests rainwater, uses natural light and ventilation, and employs solar energy for electricity and heating. Since Reva cars are powered purely by electricity without a tailpipe, they produce zero harmful emissions. They can be charged using electricity off the grid and wherever possible from renewable sources, making them among the cleanest production cars available anywhere in the world echoing with our ‘Born Green’ philosophy.
The way forward
As all the key players – governments, suppliers, individuals and institutions – come together, a significant change in mobility towards green will be an obvious outcome. <br><br>
We perceive that the rate of adoption of EVs will be beyond the estimates currently doing the rounds in the automotive sector. As the volumes increase and battery technologies advance, costs will come down in the next three to five years furthering a wider adoption. <br><br>
New usage models such as battery leasing, pay per use and incentives from governments (allowing EVs in bus lanes and introduction of polluter pay policies) will all work towards making the coming decade in automobiles the decade of electric cars.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354153https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/forward-4153
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/forward-4153Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:18:55ATS Elgi targets smart workshops<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>ATS Elgi Ltd's new product range is targeted at modern garages keen to notch
improved business without expanding infrastructure. </br></br>
Sometimes there is good news that comes out of a downturn. With vehicle owners preferring to delay new car purchases and maintain their existing vehicles better to enable longer, trouble-free ownership, modern garages are finding a growing number of customers at their doorsteps. As new technology pervades new-generation vehicles in India, owners are increasingly looking at getting their cars serviced at modern workshops and garages. Clearly, there is a fast-growing need for hi-tech vehicle servicing and maintenance equipment, be it for the body shop, paint booth, engine management systems, wheel alignment machines or a multitude of other vehicle care jobs. </br></br>
While a few garages have equipped themselves with large infrastructure, most workshops in India have to make do with their existing space. The need of the hour for such workshops is products that can not only reduce running costs and fetch higher revenues, but importantly do so without the need for expanding existing infrastructure. </br></br>
With this in mind, ATS Elgi Ltd, the Coimbatore-based garage equipment player and Rs 90 core wholly-owned subsidiary of Elgi Equipments Ltd, has launched a slew of new products aimed to further its position as a one-stop shop automotive equipment provider. The extended product range will now include a dent removal system called ‘Flatliner’, a clear floor electro-mechanical lift, lubrication management system and nitrogen inflator. According to Harjeet Singh Wahan, managing director, Flatliner mechanises and quickens the process of dent removal, resulting in higher revenues and profits for garages. </br></br>
The company has also launched its clear floor electro-mechanical lifts. While these were imported from MAHA of Germany last year, ATS Elgi now makes them. The lifts incorporate European safety features and help garages improve their per bay output. “We have introduced the Lube Management System in association with major oil companies. This drastically reduces lubricant wastage. In addition, the garage can buy the lubricant in bulk and save on the buying cost, resulting in higher margins. We have completed more than 30 such installations in India during 2008-09,” Wahan points out. </br></br>
The company has also added the nitrogen inflator to its product range. This equipment is used to fill nitrogen in tyres, which keeps them cooler and ensures lower loss of pressure. It also ensures better tyre life and improved mileage. “We have so far installed more than 200 units during the year. In fact, we are the first Indian company to design and manufacture this product locally,” Wahan claims. </br></br>
<b>Growing product range</b> </br></br>
The company plans to introduce a number of new products in 2009-2010, all of them focussing on higher productivity and lower cost for garages. A full-fledged garage typically is equipped with 35 equipment and over 150 tools and accessories; ATS Elgi either deals with or manufactures most of them. </br></br>
Every product is manufactured and tested under strict international quality control systems while strategic alliances with global leaders like Celette, Cemb, Maha, Fasep, Elletro, Body Shop, Istobal Sp-Air and Sata have placed the company on the path of advanced technology to sell products to global standards, yet with competitive pricing. </br></br>
ATS Elgi's automotive training centres in Coimbatore, Mumbai and Delhi are another expression of its customer focus to provide hands-on training to clients and technicians. It provides technical support to authorised technicians of a number of vehicle manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India, Ford Motors, Honda Motors, and Toyota Kirloskar Motor. </br></br>
At present, the company has 13 branches and over 70 dealers for effective sales and aftersales support to its customers all over the country. The objective of these training courses is to impart training on all diagnostic equipment under one roof, educate trainees on basic and related theories, impart knowledge on various diagnostic techniques, impart skills on interpreting the diagnosis, find out the cause of failure and provide an effective solution, and to educate trainees on basic maintenance practices of equipment. </br></br>
As regards the growth of this sector in India, Wahan said: “We believe that with the lower number of new workshops commissioned during 2008-2009, the market has shrunk by around five percent. However, we expect that the market will record growth of around 10 percent during 2009-2010. For the past few years, we have been growing at around 12 percent year-on-year in our business, which includes not only garages but also related sectors such as driving simulators for Maruti Suzuki, mobile service units for the construction and mining sectors and pneumatic tools.”
While elaborating on the quality initiatives the company has undertaken, Wahan said, “Elgi as a group has launched the Elgi Manufacturing System (EMS). This is based on the Toyota Manufacturing System (TMS) and is localised for our needs. We are assisted by our German consultants in this journey. This not only ensures timely delivery to the customer but also that the quality of each product leaving our factory is of the highest order. Various checks are implemented at each stage of manufacture to ensure that defects, if at all, are prevented from going further. In case a defect is found, we use various tools such as ‘Root Cause Analysis’ to find out the reason for the defect after which corrective and preventive action is taken to eliminate this defect from all future products. Through this process, our customer complaints during installation and warranty have dropped by more than 60 percent during the current financial year. Obviously, this results in higher customer satisfaction.” </br></br>
Despite the downturn, this is one company that believes its new products will draw new clientele and have existing customers augment their existing equipment.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354164https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/ats-elgi-targets-smart-workshops-4164
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/ats-elgi-targets-smart-workshops-4164Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:49:01Forms & Gears bags new orders<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>The fixture manufacturer has received a slew of new business orders from the automotive industry and has tied up with Vektek of the US.<br><br>
The order book for Chennai-based Forms &amp; Gears, Asia's leading fixture manufacturer which supplies machining centre fixtures worldwide to the world's leading automobile and machine tool manufacturers, is looking good. Recently, the company bagged a repeat order from Mahindra &amp; Mahindra for designing and manufacturing hydraulic fixtures for the new-generation Scorpio SUV. And recently the company has partnered with the US-based Vektek, to bring high pressure hydraulic fixtures to India. Vektek is a power clamping specialist whose rugged hydraulic and pneumatic swing, link and edge clamps, work supports, cylinders and pallet fixture accessories have earned an industry-leading reputation in medium and high-production industries.<br><br>
Prior to this, Forms &amp; Gears added Cummins India to its long list of major clients. “It is an indication of our abilities,” says Reji Verghese, managing director, and adds that “our hydraulic fixtures go to some of the biggest names in the automobile industry too.”
Forms &amp; Gears has joined hands with Vektek, the market leader for hydraulics in the US, to introduce high pressure hydraulic fixtures in India. “We are probably the only company in Asia with expertise in high pressure hydraulics.” Verghese points out that Forms &amp; Gears pioneered the use of high pressure hydraulic fixtures with the Tata Indica cylinder block fixtures for Heller machines supplied to Tata Motors in 1997 which was a landmark project.<br><br>
<b>High pressure hydraulic fixtures</b><br><br>
Over the past decade, Forms &amp; Gears has steadily been introducing the Indian automobile industry to high pressure hydraulic fixtures. Among Forms &amp; Gears’ high profile clients are Ford, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Eicher, Caterpillar, to name a few. <br><br>
“We have three units in the Guindy Industrial Estate to manufacture the fixtures, which are high precision hydraulic ones,” Verghese remarks.<br><br>
Forms &amp; Gears, which exports fixtures to the US, Japan and Singapore, has a full-fledged design centre to complement its manufacturing facility. Exports constituted around 15 percent of Forms &amp; Gears’ business last year. Recently, the company executed a big project for Toyota, which involved manufacture of state-of-the-art fixtures including internal piping and air sensing. “This was a test of our capabilities and we are happy to do have done that,” Verghese says.<br><br>
In his opinion, making high pressure hydraulic fixtures needs a high level of precision and the company has the latest equipment including five jig boring machines and a whole range of surface and cylindrical grinding and milling machines to do the job. On the possible turnaround time required for a product, he says it is between 12 and 16 weeks with design.<br><br>
High pressure hydraulics, widely used in the US and Europe, has several benefits, the most important of these being the high clamping forces and excellent vibration dampening during machining which enables high cutting parameters to be used resulting in higher productivity. Forms &amp; Gears high pressure hydraulic fixtures now run at most automobile plants in India especially for the precision engine and transmission components, says Verghese.<br><br>
Companies like Mahindra Auto, John Deere, Tata Motors, Cummins and Eicher have seen improved productivity and reduced cycle times by using Forms &amp; Gears' high pressure hydraulic fixtures, he says.<br><br>
<b>New clientele</b><br><br>
Forms &amp; Gears has recently added Cummins India to its client base. Cummins India, as part of its ongoing technology upgradation and capacity expansion plan, has awarded a large contract to the company to design and manufacture precision hydraulically clamped test cells and test carts.<br><br>
These are high precision devices on which the Cummins 16 and 12 cylinder V-type engines are mounted and tested for performance. This is also the first time that the US-based company is investing in state-of-the-art test cells with hydraulic clamping for their plant in India.<br><br>
By going in for hydraulic clamping and match plate quick coupling technology, Cummins will benefit by way of quick setup times, less operator dependence and less operator fatigue resulting in higher productivity, says Verghese. “It is a significant order (from Cummins) and adds to our profile, with an impressive list of automobile manufacturers and OEMs already included.”<br><br>
Forms &amp; Gears precision engine components customers include Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, Cummins, John Deere, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra &amp; Mahindra. Its machine tool clients include Mazak India and Japan, Makino Asia, Toyoda, NTC -Japan, LMW and BFW.<br><br>
Among the products made by Forms &amp; Gears is the 12-station hydraulic tombstone fixture supplied to Mushashi Auto to machine multiple models of Honda conrods. Increased clamping speed is one of the advantages of hydraulic fixtures, explained Verghese. Also, rather than taking several minutes to manually tighten and loosen the clamps on a component, a machine operator can activate the complete clamping system in a few seconds.<br><br>
“We are among the best in fixture manufacture in Asia,” says Verghese and adds that several companies from the West are conducting discussions on future business which Forms &amp; Gears is keen to tap. The company is also looking at tying up with fixture manufacturing companies in the USA and Europe in a bid to cut costs. “We are also thinking of acquiring toolrooms outside India in this regard,” says Verghese.<br><br>
The company expects to close this fiscal with a turnover of around Rs 25 crore but clearly the stage is set for bigger business to come.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354141https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/forms-gears-bags-4141
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/forms-gears-bags-4141Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:25:51The industrial revolution that propelled England and the US passed India by<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>I would think it is pertinent to begin by stating that the industrial revolution that propelled England and the US passed India by. We were not allowed to advance industrially simply because our rulers, Britain, wanted to make money out of this situation. They would take raw material from India, add value at their end and sell it back to us at a profit. If they industrialised India, it would not have been in their interests. They built railways only to transport goods. <br><br>
It is not my intention to sound completely negative but it is important to understand how the whole industrial revolution that changed Britain and the US bypassed India. We were brainwashed into believing that all the good things came only from the West even if they were oversized tomatoes or brinjals! <br><br>
<b> THE CIVIL SERVICE </b><br><br>
What is equally interesting was that everybody was keen to work only for the government because Britain wanted to ensure that there were good civil servants to keep everything under control. Hence, becoming a collector or lawyer was considered the pinnacle of achievement. Needless to add, there was no such prestigious tag attached to an entrepreneur! In this backdrop, when India attained Independence in 1947, she was virtually at the crossroads. The biggest dilemma was that there was really no idea which way to go in terms of an appropriate governing model. <br><br>
As is well known, the government eventually opted for the socialist pattern as it seemed the best bet to answer the glaring issue of poverty. Russia also seemed a fresh alternative after years of colonial subservience. The fact also remained that the country had done well for itself. India gradually moved towards the socialistic pattern of society and got into huge steel mills and power plants. In the process, the symptoms associated with the (then) public sector like inertia and wastage also became part of the system. <br><br>
What was equally alarming was that the foreign exchange reserves which we had in 1947 had dwindled two decades later. The government decided that it had to do its bit in helping industry except that there was no money. We were told that everything would be rationed and this was the beginning of the huge bureaucratic structure where everything was scrutinised before a licence was awarded to any industrialist! <br><br>
<b> DIFFICULT TIMES </b><br><br>
Obviously, these were not the easiest of times. Those who were able to manipulate the system prospered while the others were not as lucky and were left behind. They suffered in the process and remained small. And then there were people who took advantage of the system and blocked others from getting in. All these things were possible because of scarcity. This was when India began slipping gradually. Where we should have become a force to reckon with, given the kind of human and mineral resources we had, we were instead depending on foreign aid. We also had to build up our defence forces after the China setback in 1962, the Pakistan war and Kashmir. We did not have the money to support these efforts. <br><br>
If private enterprises had been freed at that time, it is quite likely that we could have found an alternative route to prosperity. But then it was not to be as each succeeding government followed up on the socialistic pattern of society. Capitalism became a bad word and anybody who supported it was considered antinational. <br><br>
<b> TVS SUCCESS STORY </b><br><br>
TVS survived because it kept a very low profile. We went into trading. When the Indian automotive industry was in its infancy, the government decreed that it must rapidly it was difficult to continue importing parts. This was why General Motors closed down its plant in Bombay after decades of operating here. Of course, Hindustan Motors and Premier Automobiles were around with Telco and Leyland. These companies wanted to indigenise and since we had the experience in distribution of spares, we went into collaborations with companies we had been dealing with and produced them locally. <br><br>
Just to get back a little earlier, during World War 2, there was a severe shortage of petrol and tyres in India. TVS got into manufacture of producer gas plants which ran on charcoal. These were supplied to cars, buses and trucks and became a huge hit. I remember my uncle telling me that he used to travel all the way to Karachi to sell these! When tyres became scarce, TVS went into retreading. My father learnt the art at GM and set up a retread company, Sundaram Industries, which is still around. The severe shortage of spares prompted the group to foray into reconditioning and many TVS workshops emerged to support this activity. <br><br>
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<b> BUSES IN MADURAI </b><br><br>
Hence, wartime threats or adversity turned into opportunities. Equally, as readers are aware, when there was no public transport in Madurai (Tamil Nadu), TVS kicked off a bus service in 1940. The buses were famous for their punctuality and are still remembered to this day. What TPM and TQM teach today was done by TVS in those days. We then began manufacturing and grew gradually. However, India could not sustain itself and at a point of time, just ran out of steam. We barely had forex to last a month and had to pledge our gold. <br><br>
Readers would recall that we still could not export and tap industrial markets because the rupee was still Rs 8-12 while in the black market, it was quoting at Rs 40-50. So a lot of black money was being generated. However, post-1991, the rupee, over a period of time and through different mechanisms, was valued upwards to a point when we could export. This was a huge impetus to companies and it was around this time that outsourcing became a fashionable word in the western countries. Until then, they were happy because they were making good money! Between 1985 and 1997, exports started but still India did not have a place in the world market. The foreign exchange reserves were reasonable but not huge. Then Y2K happened and India just grabbed the opportunity with both hands. <br><br>
<b> TURNING POINT </b><br><br>
It was a big turning point for the IT industry. By 1996, the fear of Y2K had started playing up in people’s minds and they wondered what would happen if computers crashed. The same bogey was there right from the Fiji islands all the way to California. Where else could they turn to but India? Everywhere else, it was enormously expensive to do this kind of reprogramming for computers. The year 2000 came and nothing happened. After this, these companies here went into overdrive and got into a whole lot of areas like insurance, banking, medical, BPO etc. The automotive industry was also well placed by this time to think of good growth. Even today, if you talk of engineering, the biggest forex earner is the components sector. <br><br>
It was also amply clear that liberalisation was the best thing that happened to India. Foreign companies began coming in and this was also the time when TVS began the process of buying out its joint venture partners’ stakes. I have always maintained that only truly Indian companies can become Indian multinationals. You cannot have a joint venture company and become an Indian MNC. You have to be 100 percent Indian like a Tata or Birla to become multinational. Today, Indian industry is doing well and the West sees us progressing well with about nine percent GDP growth and foreign exchange over $200 billion. With a billion people and demography in our favour (the number of young people in India is much more than the Chinese), the potential growth here is so much more. <br><br>
<b> THE WAY AHEAD </b><br><br>
My personal feeling is that the future belongs to India and China. The West sees youngsters here keen on wearing designer clothes with enough money to spend. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has a cell phone right from the vegetable vendor to the top guy in industry! My grandson asks me how I managed to live without one for all these years! We lived without emails, television and cell phones. When I got married, we did not have a TV at home and to entertain ourselves, we went to movies or a club. Today, we have even forgotten the art of writing letters. Telephones were difficult because calls would have had to be booked and lines were constantly busy. The memorable parts of these hard times were that the operator became a part of the family because every call was routed through him/her! I am not trying to be judgmental here but am only trying to drive home the point how quickly things have changed. And all for the better by the end of the day! <br><br><![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354144https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/industrial-revolution-propelled-england-us-passed-india-4144
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/industrial-revolution-propelled-england-us-passed-india-4144Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:00:17Manufacturing was not always economical in some cases<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>Let me go back to how the automotive industry started in this country. It happened at a meeting in Delhi in 1947 with the then defence minister. A few of us were called and taken into confidence on the problem of not having enough spare parts for our army tanks. Imports were hard to come by and so the government told us that a tough decision had to be taken. This involved developing an indigenous automotive industry in India and they asked our opinions on the issue. <br><br>
The government knew nothing about the automotive industry, and this is how it all began. Our own journey had started just two years back. My father KC Mahindra, on being asked by the British government, had traveled to Washington as chairman of the India Supply Mission. During his stay there, he met with the inventor of Jeep, Barney Roos. The US Department of Defense had given a contract to Ford Motor and Willys-Overland to develop a vehicle for the US Army. Willys was the first to come out with the model and so the Jeep belonged to them. Roos told my father that this was the ideal vehicle for developing countries and its rural hinterlands. We soon became a franchisee and started assembly of Willys Jeeps in India. <br><br>
Our closed economy initially did help in the birth of a fledgling automotive industry. But I believe that those terrible industrial policies were carried over for far too long. The government pushed us into manufacturing, but it was totally uneconomical in some cases. Imagine having to produce every single component right from engines, transmissions, body and what have you for a production of 2,000 Jeeps. There was no supply chain, and we had to make every component in-house. It did not make any economic sense, but we all recognised this national need. Remember the government considered passenger cars as luxury vehicles until very recently, and so we were supplying Jeeps to the defense force for many long years. <br><br>
<b> BIZARRE POLICIES </b><br><br>
There was no real concept of marketing or selling vehicles at the time. It all very much depended on demand-supply dynamics. Supply was linked to the availability of foreign exchange. The government gave priority to certain types of vehicles deemed necessary to serve the country’s needs, and so foreign exchange was allocated accordingly. Since there was not much of an auto ancillary industry at the time, we had to import engine blocks and transmissions which depended on the amount of foreign exchange we were given. <br><br>
Only later did we gradually move into manufacturing these. Sometimes, we produced only three vehicles a day compared to something like 300 vehicles today. While we were not extensively doing research and development, we did some basic development. One example could be that we made sure there was some similarity in the rear axles of the truck and jeep. The government also artificially limited production capacities, where they would ask us not to make say more than 5,000 Jeeps. When we did exceed these fixed capacities, we would get letters from the government asking us to explain the rise in production. <br><br>
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Then there were other funny classifications. You could not make two- or three-wheelers if you were making trucks or utility vehicles, and passenger car makers could not get into truck manufacturing. In our case, we needed a licence to make passenger cars. We applied for a licence in 1956, but the government turned us down. Other manufacturers including the Tatas were also not granted a licence to make cars at that time. We first contacted Renault to make cars, and over the years, put in a dozen applications. Nothing saw the light of day. We had even considered buying out Standard Motor Products of India (SMPIL) to get a licence to make passenger cars. <br><br>
The sad part is that Hindustan Motors and Premier Automobiles did not take advantage during that period. They should have had the foresight to see that, as we expanded our volumes of jeeps, nothing was stopping them from expanding their volumes of passenger cars. In spite of government controls and other problems, production was increasing, albeit slowly. <br><br>
<b> NO END TO WOES </b><br><br>
Apart from facing stringent government controls, we also lacked finance. We could not even increase our prices without government permission, and it did not matter to them if raw material costs went up. As a result, the industry suffered since prices never caught up with manufacturing costs. Until the mid-1980s, we did not have the freedom or the control over our own business. Forget quality, consumers during that period did not have a choice. The government continued with these socialist policies although it realised it was not getting the best of both worlds – a socialist pattern with capitalist gains. <br><br>
The government was trapped in its own making, and finally it was the country’s bankruptcy that forced a change. Narsimha Rao would go down in history as the architect of reforms, and not Manmohan Singh, since he only put into practice what Rao wanted. When the government decided to open the economy in the 1990s, I made it known that the way forward would be to do this over a period of time. Suddenly, if you allow corporations like General Motors or Ford Motor to bring in completely built vehicles without any investments, how would we survive? The government did not listen to me at all, and that was a good thing, because this is the best thing that happened to us. We were all shook up and did not know what would happen. After all, we had never faced competition before. <br><br>
<b> TAKING ON THE BEST </b><br><br>
But then we realised that these multinationals were not as strong as they claimed. Many of them did not understand the nature of the culture they were going to work in. Remember, Indian consumers were not used to foreign brands. Although Mercedes-Benz cars were around in small numbers, not many had heard of a General Motors or Ford. It was at this time that we asked ourselves if we could survive by being just a niche player. We formed a joint venture with Ford, partly for our own survival and also from our motivation to make a car. A lot of companies had contacted us including Renault, but we chose to go with Ford because of its brand name and full range of vehicles. <br><br>
The government’s strict regulations perhaps unknowingly made us very conscious of frugal costs and frugal engineering. We also gained a lot of confidence through our ability in making tractors. We did not have any collaboration here, and so had a 15-year experience of developing engineering products like tractors. In retrospect, I think it might have been better to liberalise the economy earlier. India opened its economy in the 1990s compared to China which did it 20-25 years ago. I don’t think any of us realised it then, but today our ability to innovate, handle harder R&amp;D and competitive costs has put us in good stead.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354151https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/manufacturing-economical-4151
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/manufacturing-economical-4151Tue, 04 Sep 2007 07:52:17Counterfeiting is a cancerous menace<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>The Indian bearing industry has several important aspects and some of these are:<br><br>
Maturing of the industry: Customers are increasingly getting more demanding for quality products and the bearing industry is responding positively to this.
<br><br>
This is also reflecting on the size and scale of component makers who are responding by bringing in quality systems and better manufacturing practices. <br><br>
Our industry is integrally linked to the industrial economy. The bearing industry has grown at an average of 15-17 percent over the last three years and we expect this trend to continue over the next few years too. <br><br>
India is now integrated within the global economy and the products and services offered here have to reflect the global standards that are necessary to thrive in this environment. Focus has to be on R&amp;D with an emphasis on the ‘research’ part if this has to be achieved. Our customers want more value and this is only possible if we focus on value-added products which provide higher efficiencies, longer life and are reliable and secure. <br><br>
The other important aspect is scale - the bearing industry is capital-intensive. If it is going to be competitive in the long run, we need to build size to get the most value from the investments. <br><br>
Exports will grow exponentially but quality and consistency will be the key to this. Hence, the industry needs to invest in manufacturing excellence practices, quality standards and a large supplier base with similar competencies. <br><br>
The bearing industry is critical for India's industrial drive and must align itself with academic institutions for R&amp;D, besides alliance with international agencies. The government must support this industry by clamping down on counterfeit products and unscrupulous traders and businesses which indulge in these practices. <br><br>
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<b> HERCULEAN TASK </b><br><br>
Counterfeiting is turning out to be the biggest challenge. For an industry as critical for the nation’s modernisation, whether it is the automotive industry or manufacturing environment, this has no place in today's emerging environment. The bearing industry has undertaken various initiatives, besides individually driving them but it is a Herculean task which has no chance of winning the war unless the law and legislature supports this with stringent penalties and imprisonment. <br><br>
Each year, we invest considerable amounts to fight this menace, which is really like cancer and impossible to contain. The influx of these counterfeit products is from various channels and locations including China and East European countries. We need support in various areas and some of this is starting to happen now. While we are aligned to the government's policy on FTAs, there is some consideration to be given to ensuring that the local industry gets a level playing field. <br><br>
<b> SKF PERSPECTIVE </b><br><br>
This is in terms of bringing imports at par with prevailing duties, ensuring minimum value add from the FTA countries thereby and preventing secondary channels using this route. The counterfeiting point has been covered earlier where government support is necessary. <br><br>
From SKF's perspective we are completely focused and aligned to supporting India's industrial drive thorough value-added products, high technology standards and being extremely close to our customers to ensure that we continue to add value to them.<br><br>
Our priorities range from ensuring that we serve our customers with best-in-their-class products with strong application engineering support. Our focus is on providing solutions, based upon our five technology platforms. We will continue to invest both in technology, capacity and people to build further upon our leadership position in India. Exports are increasingly becoming a significant opportunity for us. <br><br>
SKF this year is 100 years old and we will rededicate ourselves to our Vision to 'Equip the world with SKF knowledge' and to the next 100 years of providing unparalleled solutions and technology
to our customers.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354145https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/counterfeiting-cancerous-menace-4145
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/counterfeiting-cancerous-menace-4145Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:40:17Skilled manpower is the need of the hour<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>I would like to focus on bigger issues that impact the bearing industry and these include the Chinese threat, special economic zones (SEZs), free trade agreements (FTAs) and so on.It is my view that the Indian government needs to be much more sophisticated about FTAs. If we are giving access to other countries in terms of our markets, we need to ensure that we also gain access into a market that is worthwhile and has the potential for us to succeed in. Now, when that is applied to bearings in China, I would definitely say that an FTA with the country would be very shortsighted at this point. <br><br>
Everyone knows that pricing in China is more political and not cost-based. It is very hard to understand how they price their products, but suffice it to say that the prices are often lower than the material costs. It is not easy to sell into China from India, as apart from the foreign companies and JVs, Chinese companies basically buy Chinese components. Also the quality of their products is very varied and there are around 900 bearing companies.We would be giving access to one of the world’s largest growing automotive markets without gaining access there in return. <br><br>
Now, whatever is going to come into India in terms of smuggled products, the only recourse there for any industry here is to impose an anti-dumping retaliation especially if it feels strongly enough about this. NRB is a company that is not as threatened because of the kind of products we are in. However, to protect many others, I do think a coherent anti-dumping move can be taken and should be initiated. <br><br>
<b> COMPETING WITH CHINA </b><br><br>
China’s strength in manufacturing is one of scale and repletion. This applies to bearings, too. They can do very well on high volume duplication mass production and that applies to bearings as well. Indian bearing companies must focus their strengths more on engineering capabilities and value-addition. If we are able to do that in the long run, China will not be a threat.<br><br>
I am also essentially against the current Chinese SEZ model for India. If you do a thorough study, you will find that in the 1970s when China had the highest growth rate, it was done in an environment which was very similar to India’s. <br><br>
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<b> INFRASTRUCTURE DEBATE </b><br><br>
Infrastructure is what people keep talking about in India. We often hear comments on how poor it is and why it should be addressed to promote growth. However, historically, it has been shown that China grew at a much faster pace when it had poorer infrastructure, as that forces you to be efficient and flexible, than the period when massive infrastructure and current SEZ policy was put in place. <br><br>
It is a fact that if infrastructure follows growth, it will lead to higher levels of sustained development and that large scale centrally planned infrastructure projects funded by governments are not a good, efficient use of capital and tend to divert money away from the private sector to the government. <br><br>
Further, if such projects include housing and commercial building projects they lead to money flowing into investments that are not beneficial to the masses. China has been able to do this at great cost to the poor and the farmers and its SEZ policy has been based on artificially low land cost (land grabbing) and as recent attempts show that is very hard to replicate this in a democracy. <br><br>
When you put in that kind of money to create this base as is the case with China, it is only natural that the return on investment becomes quite poor. It certainly leads to strong macro-indicators and attracts foreign investment but what is a lesser known fact is that India outperforms China on all economic micro-indicators. <br><br>
<b> SPECIAL BENEFITS </b><br><br>
The reason for this is that capital chases the big (not the better) projects and foreign companies that are welcomed into the SEZs get special benefits that Chinese companies find hard to compete with, this could be why so much of the FDI into China is from non-resident Chinese…it is not a level playing field so maybe they have to take money out and bring it back in through the SEZ route in order to compete. <br><br>
In other words, if you are comparing country to country, China seems like a great place to enter on a macro level. But if you see how Chinese companies are performing in China vis-&#224;-vis Indian companies in India, Indian companies and foreign investments into India have outperformed in terms of results, in spite of the poorer infrastructure and virtual lack of government support. <br><br>
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Considering the great headstart China has had over India, there are so few companies from China in a Fortune 500/1000 in comparison to the larger number of Indian companies. Also, there are so few global brands that are Chinese-owned. India’s advantage is that we have years of experience in brand building and we should leverage that too. <br><br>
Indian companies are quite capable of succeeding on their own if they are given a level playing field ad SEZs will not do this. This is because fresh investments are needed to be able to compete. What we should be doing is to drive investment that has already been made. <br><br>
In fact, the most successful state in China is one that has a structure that is very similar to India. It has much higher productivity and other improvements in the way they run. Talking about macro-competitiveness, China is number 46 and India is number 55. As for micro-competitiveness, India is no 30 while China is no 47. Hence, when we talk of individual companies trying to enter either country, they are going to be more successful in India. <br><br>
All this applies to the auto component sector and to the bearing industry. We do not need the SEZ policy but what is required is a well planned focus on addressing the power issue and improving air, road and port infrastructure. What we should emulate is China’s focus on primary and secondary education and now on development of Basic Research Institutes. <br><br>
Education is critical both as the best insurance for sustained growth and as the driver to wipe out poverty; because what is going to be the constraint in the future is availability of educated manpower, and our greatest risk is uneducated, dissatisfied youth that cannot share and be part of our the growth story. <br><br>
<b> YOUTHFUL INDIA </b><br><br>
Nearly 25 percent of the world’s population under 25 is in India today. Twenty-three percent of the global workforce, by 2020, will be Indian. Demographics are greatly in our favour and that is where we score considerably against China and the rest of the world. Every country has an ageing population except India. <br><br>
Having said that, India’s biggest challenge and what we should emulate is the Chinese focus on primary and secondary education and now on development of Basic Research Institutes. Education, and not SEZs or massive inefficient Chinese style infrastructure projects, are the need of the day. Creation of world-class infrastructure is inevitable and has already started happening but it is better done in a cost-effective way and not the Chinese way. <br><br>
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I do believe Indian companies have performed very well in spite of everything while Chinese-owned companies are not performing well enough despite everything they have. In my view, this is extremely significant. <br><br>
Counterfeiting is a very big threat but things are much worse in China and this is another area where India scores over China. Fundamentally, in India, we are realizing the importance of intellectual property rights. We recognise brainpower and the fact that somebody’s idea has value. That is why we are so much better in management skills; and we do care deeply about things ‘lasting’ and that is anther way of saying we care about quality. <br><br>
<b> QUALITY OF MINDS </b><br><br>
One of my favorite quotes is: “The future wars will be won by the quality of our minds and not just the quality of our products.” We have to make sure that Indian brainpower and manpower is adequate to fuel our future goals. Basic, relevant primary and secondary education is paramount and this is the most important issue; unfortunately there is very little thought being given to this issue, and when we do speak of education, it only speak of college education.<br><br>
The success of Indian immigrants the world over has demonstrated the power of education to get ahead and Indians essentially care about education but the system is so poor that children just drop out of it altogether.All of Indian industry is talking about the attrition rate and shortage of management but the future will be bleak for manufacturing if we do not create a pipeline of future machine operators. <br><br>
In industry, whether the company is within the organised or unorganised sector is less important than how well and efficiently it satisfies the customer. For instance, the unorganised sector exports more in many areas which means that they are obviously catering to a need. We are all open to competing with global players but then they should not be able to come with fresh investments into a brand new SEZ without extending the same benefits to Indian companies that have come up in spite of the constraints of the past. <br><br>
It is not protection but a level playing field that must be ensured so there no anomalies are created in the future which will work against companies that have been part of the era of protection and poor infrastructure and have still survived and succeeded. <br><br>
The Indian bearing industry is well poised to grow and to become world-class, and to supply to companies across the globe. Many multinationals have been in India for years and we are accustomed to competing with them, and more will join them. We must be prepared to compete with them in their home turf. We also need to have some critical mass because we are going to be competing with huge companies, so faster paced growth is critical for the long term survival of Indian companies.
...<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354170https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/skilled-manpower-hour-4170
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/skilled-manpower-hour-4170Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:18:38Ignore China at your own peril<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>There is a structural difference between the Indian and Chinese auto industries. For instance, in two-wheelers, the segment’s structure in China is so different that nearly 75 to 80 percent of bikes made there could be considered counterfeits of some Honda variant or the other. <br><br>
There are counterfeits of other companies such as Suzuki and Yamaha as well. India is the largest motorcycle market for branded products. It continues to have huge growth potential as the vehicle parc bike motorcycles is about 55 per 1000 people. <br><br>
<b> QUALITY OF TESTING </b><br><br>
One also cannot be sure about the quality of testing or homologation of Chinese vehicles. This was seen with products of initial Chinese entrants in India. Though Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) certify that they comply with emission norms, one cannot be sure. There is no proper governance procedure. I have seen employees of small SOEs sitting on the floor and welding motorcycle frames though these companies had very good paint shops. <br><br>
While Indian bikes carry a warranty of 30,000 km, no company in China gives warranties of over 5,000 to 10,000 km. So, if you go and market two-wheeler parts in China and offer a 30,000 km guarantee, it does not mean anything to them as the rest of the vehicle would fall apart at 10,000 km or earlier! The Chinese are not going to remain this way. They are improving and realise that they need to get out of counterfeiting promote their own brands.<br><br>
The commercial vehicle industry is the most protected sector in China. It is difficult for an overseas manufacturer to make a breakthrough and manufacture there. Of course, the car segment has been growing at a phenomenal rate. In the early years, the Chinese invited companies to participate in the manufacture of cars through joint ventures. VW was one of the initial entrants with the Shanghai Auto Industrial Corporation (SAIC) which assured the carmaker about $3,000-$5,000 profit per vehicle. <br><br>
<b> VW'S SORRY SAGA </b><br><br>
Today, the scenario is changing. VW’s market share, in a high growth phase, is down to 17 percent from 44 percent. About three years ago, the company planned to invest around $3 billion and has now lowered this commitment. Why? There is a structural change happening. Earlier, buying was mainly done by state-owned corporations and most cars produced were in the luxury and mid-size segments. Now, with greater purchasing power and an appreciation for mobility, it is the individual who is buying despite not having easy access to finance. <br><br>
The Chinese are very clear about their aspirations. They recognise that the auto industry is the key growth driver and I have validated this view in my discussions with the Chinese Ambassador to WTO in Geneva and also with senior officials of SAIC and BAIC. Having recognised this they have a policy which they are trying to deploy. How are they going about it? <br><br>
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<b> FIERCELY LOYAL </b><br><br>
Although you can have 100 percent ownership in component manufacturing, this is not the case in cars where you must have local content. This is governed in such a way that it goes down the value chain unlike what we have in India. China has a detailed formula that assesses each and every part which makes it difficult for OEs to import parts in a big way.<br><br>
The Chinese also want vehicles to be developed from the platform upwards as well as the latest technology in all aspects of car manufacturing. Take the case of two large engine makers who were asked to produce Euro IV engines. When they talked about assembly, the Chinese refused and insisted that manufacturing and R &amp; D be done there. Companies have no choice but to do what the Chinese want despite knowing that their technologies will be proliferated. <br><br>
The Chinese are clear that they would soon like 3-5 OE brands to become global. They are in acquisition mode and the aggressive way they went about buying Rover in the UK is an example. SAIC has a clear global ambition while Chery and Geely vehicles have been showcased in exhibitions. <br><br>
People may say that their vehicles are death traps but that is what was said about Hyundai when it began marketing its cars in the US. We are all aware of the IPR issue of GM-DAT against Chery QQ and the case relating to Honda’s CR-V with Shuanghuan Automobile. However, the aggrieved parties lost the case. The way the law is enacted in China is very different from India. In their view, if you want to have a production base and make profits in their market while using their resources, then whatever you are doing there is their IPR. <br><br>
The Chinese want 15 to 20 component makers to become global Tier-1 companies and are taking the right steps in this direction. They have attracted OEs, given them profits, shown them the domestic possibilities and the carrot that China would be making more cars than the US in the next decade. <br><br>
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<b>QUALITY RACE </b><br><br>
Who can resist this temptation? These operations are obviously not totally run by expatriates but with local Chinese. The latter will be closely involved and their knowledge bank is bound to improve. <br><br>
I visited some institutes that do homologation in China where they think it is nationalistic for Chinese personnel to share their learning with Chinese SOEs or entrepreneurial companies. Quality is a game which they are learning very fast even in inputs such as steel where many companies are make better quality steel. <br><br>
There are SOEs, JVs and businesses of Chinese entrepreneurs which make components. Quality with them varies as it does in India but by and large all these entities are catching up in attaining higher levels. The cost of operations of a JV in China vis-&#224;-vis India would hardly have a variance of 5-7 percent within the four walls of the company. If you do an apple-to-apple comparison, then we are comparable. <br><br>
We can compete on a firm level basis but cannot replicate this with the Chinese Treasury which has huge surpluses in trade and huge FDI inflows. They have a business philosophy of putting in capacity, creating demand and working on market share while we look at bottomlines in India. But if you look at SOEs, many are dated and could be spun off. They are not very particular about quality. The support given to SOE component enterprises earlier is not seen now and they have been told to become self-supporting or face the consequences. <br><br>
According to the ACMA-McKinsey study, the value of offshorable buying of parts is pegged at $700 billion of which the Indian component industry has put an aspirational 3.5 percent that translates to about $20 to $25 billion. The Chinese are pitching for $100 billion! <br><br>
The graduation to supplying aggregates with the requisite parameters of delivery is something which will happen in time in India. In China, they are actually getting the OEs to do that while here we are largely doing “build to print”. The Chinese are ensuring that on a long-term basis, they are masters of their destiny and technology. Most Chinese entrepreneurs started their businesses on the basis of deferred payments with the provision that they would provide employment. Such companies have an advantage. However, India is way ahead in its class of entrepreneurs.<br><br>
Indian companies must realise for themselves the differences with China and leverage on their competitive advantages. It would be foolish to evaluate the Chinese as per our measures and we must understand them in their environment. It is only then will we find ways of leveraging ourselves, know our core competencies and then compete in China. Whatever you do, you cannot ignore China.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354142https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/ignore-china-peril-4142
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/ignore-china-peril-4142Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:16:00FTA could be a mixed bag<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>I believe that any debate on China should be examined from the viewpoint of both the short and long term. In the short term, if one has to talk on the service perspective, I am sure that the customer will benefit in terms of variety, pricing and range. However, the credibility of quality and pricing is not clear since industry experts feel that pricing is not based on cost. <br><br>
In the long term, I am of the view that we cannot afford to abandon the domestic industry as it will end up killing consumers if China increases prices in future. It is, therefore, necessary to weigh the short term and long term benefits. I do not think that Indian industry, both service and manufacturing, can be badly off with regard to better productivity or capability. <br><br>
<b> PROS AND CONS </b><br><br>
When it comes to pure service, there are two challenges in FTA established with any country. The advantages are availability of range and the ability to shore up much faster. Besides the traditional distribution channels will be quickly challenged. <br><br>
The negative factor is that there could be huge quality variation on account of which customers may be disappointed after some years. I do not think that FTA by itself is a bad idea for the service industry provided it is well monitored and regulated. <br><br>
I am ambivalent about it since my view is that the service industry can benefit in the short term if the right things are done. In the long term, if it comes at the expense of Indian industry then it will be a threat. <br><br>
Looking at the opportunities in China, I see huge scope as the automotive industry in the country is growing phenomenally and logistics costs are fairly high. The logistics cost in India is roughly 14.5 percent of total production cost which was nearly the same in China till a couple of years ago. During the last two years, however, this has come down by about 1.5 percent. <br><br>
The key issue is that the logistics concept is very limited since China is used to full capacity production and complete sales. For this type of business, it is necessary to get only the approval of the local government and not FTA. <br><br>
I feel it is necessary for Indian manufacturing to produce a full range of components or at least a few systems or modules for every vehicle in the world so that it will throw open the opportunity. This is the strength of the Chinese auto sector, which is further augmented by volumes.<![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354139https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/fta-mixed-bag-4139
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/fta-mixed-bag-4139Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:53:58India will only benefit by SEZs<div class='articleDetails_image'><img src='https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735'/><div>India can benefit immensely if it were to set up special economic zones (SEZs) all over the country. In China, many years ago many investors rushed to set up units in these SEZs. Today, foreign investors are setting up units even outside the SEZs. <br><br>
In China even the labour rules existing in the country did not apply to the units within the SEZ. In India, such conditions have been promised here too but have not come into force. We have, in fact, emulated the Chinese model since it was very successful. India's former Commerce Minister late Murasoli Maran had initiated the idea of setting up SEZs in India after his visit to China seven to eight years ago. He observed that Chinese SEZs were the real pushers of economic growth in that county. Initially it was decided to convert the export processing zones (EPZs) into SEZs, and then come up with green field ones. If India were to set up several SEZs, a lot of MNCs would come in. <BR><BR>
By providing a base for MNCs, the country could benefit in a big way. Ten per cent of China's exports is to WalMart. There is a huge buying that the stores are doing. Take for example Ikea of Sweden; they are buying around Rs 800 crore worth of lighting alone from China. In contrast they buy may be around Rs 50 crore worth of lighting from India. Also, they could be buying Rs 10,000 crore worth of goods from China. Lighting is just five per cent of their turnover. Manufacturing outsourcing opportunities are really huge.<BR><BR>
Ours was the first company to set up an auto parts unit in the special economic zone. In the last three - four years there have been no new auto parts units that have come up in the zone. There is only one zone in north India. There is a lot of hype that special economic zones will come up Rajasthan, MP and Haryana. They have not even started setting up one. There are SEZs in other parts of India. <BR><BR>
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We came to Noida when this area was NEPZ (Noida export processing zone). The rules are different for these two zones. Over a period of time it was converted into a SEZ. EPZs are like a country within a country. Anything that comes in from outside the zone (also called the domestic territory) is like an import for the zone. Anything that goes out is like export. So if we were to sell to the domestic area we would have to pay duty on the goods because this sale would construe as imports. <BR><BR>
We can get 100 per cent foreign exchange for the exports, we can import anything without duty as long as it is coming to the zone, even items like air conditioners and furniture, excluding vehicles. The imported items have to be utilised within the plant. There is no sales tax here. The excise, customs and the development officer of this zone are very co-operative. We had a lot of apprehension when we came in. <BR><BR>
A lot of people are coming in after it has been converted into an SEZ. Earlier they were sceptical whether this area would indeed be converted into an SEZ. Once it was converted two years, a lot of people are coming in and one can see a lot of construction taking place in the area.<BR><BR>
The zone is only around 300 acres. The new zones that the government is promising in other parts of north India are around 2000 to 3000 acres in area. One, we can import anything that we want to for the plant. It gets customs cleared here only. We do not have to get it custom cleared in any port because this area is like a port. When we need to export, we get it customs cleared at the gate itself and it goes directly to the sea port.<BR><BR>
If somebody wants to utilise his or her production unit for the domestic market then this is not the right place too. They should set up a unit outside and convert it is an export oriented unit. Then they can sell 25 to 50 per cent of their production in the domestic market. But then you have to pay sales tax for the purchases. The most important point is that there is an income tax holiday in the SEZ. There is none for EOU unit. In the SEZ there is a five-year 100 per cent income tax waiver and for another five years there is a 50 per cent waiver.
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For SEZs to be successful, India's infrastructure too needs to improve. These include roads, ports and airports. Take, for example, the ports. Your ships first go to Colombo. It is a small ship that carries your goods to Colombo or Dubai or some other port. The mother vessel is parked there. Ninety per cent of these mother vessels do not come into India. A buyer in Brazil which is almost equidistant from India and China, is able to get his goods from China in 20 days while from India it takes around 45 days. That's the difference in transit time.<BR><BR>
This is still okay. But a customer coming to India loses his confidence when he comes to India by merely looking at our airports and roads. The potential here is real good. The entrepreneurship here is good, the workers are hard working, so why miss the bus merely due to bad infrastructure?<BR><BR><![CDATA[]]>Autocar ProfessionalThree-Wheelershttps://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=735https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=https://www.autocarpro.in/userfiles/&h=485&w=7354160https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/india-benefit-sezs-4160
https://www.autocarpro.in/opinion-column/india-benefit-sezs-4160Tue, 25 Apr 2006 05:46:09